GILLETTE, Wyo. — Two local youth basketball players — Jarek Fiedor and Payton Sorensen — made the trip to Casper to compete against others from across the state in the Elks Lodge Hoop Shoot free throw shooting state championship, and both left their mark.
Fiedor, competing in the 10-11 age group, finished with the top score, earning him a spot in the regional tournament in Colorado in March.
It feels really good. I’m pretty surprised at how well I did,” Fiedor said with a grin. “I thought I would probably get second or third.”
Fiedor was able to set himself apart from competitors from all across Wyoming, he said, by not overthinking things.
“My routine is to not overthink things too much and to just shoot,” he said.
This is Fiedor’s second year taking part in the Hoop Shoot free throw competitions, he said. Just by making it to the state round, he exceeded last year’s performance of finishing third at the local level. Now, he’s moving on to compete against basketball players from Nebraska, Colorado and Kansas.
“I can’t wait,” Fiedor said with a smile.
Also competing in the state championship from Gillette was Sorensen, who finished runner-up in the 12-13 age group.
Sorensen said he was disappointed with his performance after placing first overall in the district round, nailing 21 of his 25 shots in today’s state championship.
“I’ve just got to hit my shots,” he said afterwards.
