Shooters to compete in regional Free Throw Championship in Aurora

February 20, 2020 · 0 Comments

Written By ROBERT BELARDI

The Knights of Columbus, District Free Throw Competition winners move on the Regional Championship in Aurora next month.

The contestants won their local school competition and local council competition to qualify for the tournament at St. Michael’s Catholic Secondary School in Bolton this past Saturday.

“Fifty-thousand students in Ontario compete, in the elementary schools,” said director of the tournament Ron Frank, emphasizing the growth and the participation numbers.

The Knights of Columbus welcomed Council winners from Bolton, Tottenham, Orangeville and Alliston, in order to judge who will represent the district.

The players had to shoot 25 consecutive free throws, instead of 15 in the previous two. Ages from nine all the way to 16 were in contention.

Children from nine to 11, shoot from a 12-foot line, using a woman’s size (28.6 inch) basketball. From 12-years old and up, the children shoot from the 15 foot-line, using a men’s size ball (29.5 inch) ball.

After warmup, the nine-year-old’s, stepped up to the plate and the boys and girls, did not disappoint in front of a warm crowd.

Undeterred with determination, St. John Paul II student Jake Rampino and Monsignor JE Ronan Catholic School student Emilia Angilletta won their round. Rampino swished home 12 out of 25 baskets and Angilletta won the girls round with a whopping, 16 made baskets.

Setting the tone for the day, the 10-year-olds stepped up to the line.

Nicholas Brozina Ramos from St. James School in Tottenham has an affinity to score free throws, almost flawlessly, finishing his round with 23 made baskets. That, was the best score of the day between all age groups.

“He’s solid, he has great skill, he has great technique set up and he didn’t move his feet,” expressed Frank, on what he saw from Brozina Ramos.

Sage Vatrt for the girl’s, also from Monsignor, tied for the third-highest scoring total of the day with 14 shots.

The 11-year-old’s, witnessed the second highest scoring total for the boys. Holy Family Elementary school representative, Adrian Edelenji made five consecutive baskets in the end, finishing his round with 18 points, with a fist pump upon leaving the foul line. Also, from the same school, Tyra Reginald, returned to move on scoring 12 baskets of her own.

The 12-year-old winners saw the Father Francis Xavier O’Reilly tandem Leandro Martins score 17 points and Emily Turco with 11, move on to the regional finals, with some sweet shooting.

In the 13-year-old age group, Monsignor player Claudio Di Palma moves on as well and Francis Xavier player Ainsley Cummings.

The 14-year-old and 16-year-old representatives had no competition at all, as Tamara Sommer from Alliston Community Christian School and Alyssa Trushinski from Robert F. Hall automatically qualified.

District Deputy Tim Grant was in attendance for this tournament and explained what he saw from the event on Saturday.

Grant said, “I’m impressed by the number in Ontario. Fifty-thousand kids right, getting involved in Ontario. That’s great to see them getting out, it’s a good family activity.”

The Regional Finals will be held on March 7th at Ecole Secondaire Catholique Renaissance at 700 Bloomington road in Aurora. The winners of the next competition, will move on to the International competition. Results will be compared, according to Frank.

The Knights of Columbus expands all the way from North America, to countries in the Caribbean, to South East Asia and Europe. There are over two million members.