photo by: Niamh Coomey

West Virginia Elks Hoop Shoot champion and national runner-up Brazen Smith gets in free throw form outside of The Linsly School.

WHEELING — A local student was nothing but net this past weekend at the Elks Hoop Shoot Nationals.

Brazen Smith, a middle schooler and basketball player at The Linsly School, placed second in the national Elks Hoop Shoot free throw competition in Chicago over the weekend.

Smith went 25-for-25 from the free throw line in Chicago for his runner-up spot, a gratifying finish for a hardworking player who has competed in the free throw contest for the past three years. Now, Smith’s name will be listed in a national digital hall of fame in Springfield, Massachusetts along with the five other national finalists.

“It feels really nice because I’ve been back-to-back at state and I lost at regionals last year, I got second there and won it this year, made the nationals, did well and got second,” he said.

The Elks Hoop Shoot competition has been running for more than 50 years. This was 13-year-old Smith’s last year of eligibility in the competition, which includes three age group categories: ages 8-9, ages 10-11, and ages 12-13. Smith said “a lot” of preparation goes into the days and weeks before competing.

“Every week, every day almost, I usually just shoot a bunch of free throws, start up close first to warm up and get my form right and then back up and start shooting free throws,” he said.

Smith is a member of Linsly’s basketball team and said he hopes to become a Division I player when he graduates high school. He does not know where his dream school is quite yet, but possibly West Virginia University.

Aside from his finish in the Windy City, Smith said the trip to Chicago for nationals was a lot of fun.

“The Elks, they make it really nice, the trip and everything. It’s really fun and really nice,” Smith said.

Besides the free throw competition itself, the Chicago-style deep dish pizza was Smith’s favorite part of the journey to nationals.

“Besides the hoop shoot I’d have to say probably all of the restaurants that we ate at, they were really good,” he said.

Now that Smith has won the state competition and placed second nationally, his focus has returned to just “school and basketball,” he said.