Albany’s Brown, Littleton to compete for national Hoop Shoot titles

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Albany’s Jordan Brown was sure his Elks Hoop Shoot career was over.

In the Southeast Region Championship in Valdosta last month, the Robert Cross Middle School seventh-grader thought he had cost himself a shot at a national title in the final year he was eligible for the youth free throw shooting competition.

“I knew I had lost,” he said. “I walked back to my bench, and I knew I had lost it.”

Jordan had those thoughts after hitting three of five free throws in a tie-break round to decide who would represent the Southeast Region in the national championships. Seconds later, his opponent also hit just three of five free throws to extend the tie break — and Jordan took advantage. The 13-year-old nailed 20 straight free throws in the remaining tie-break rounds to secure a third trip to the Elks Hoop Shoot national championship.

Jordan will compete in the competition’s oldest age group (12-13) at nationals in Springfield, Mass., on Saturday, while his friend and former Albany resident Zocko Littleton Jr. will compete in the 10-11 age group after also winning a Southeast Region title.

“I really want to win it, since it’s my last time,” Jordan said. “I feel like all I have to do is go up there and do my normal routine. This has meant everything to me since I was 8. I shoot 300 shots every day — 300 free throws.”

Jordan and Zocko, who resides in Atlanta but previously attended Lincoln Elementary Magnet School in Albany, each will be one of 12 competitors in their respective age groups. Each competitor shoots 25 free throws (10 in the first round and 15 in the second round), and the player with the highest total will be crowned the national champion.

Jordan and Zocko made the trip together to Springfield in 2012 when they competed in the 10-11 and 8-9 age groups, respectively, and they both finished in the middle of the field.

In 2012, Zocko made 20-of-25 at nationals. This year the 10-year-old says his goal is to sink all 25.

“You just flip your wrist and make the free throw,” he said. “It’s the same thing every time.”

It’s all about routine for Jordan as well. The 13-year-old, who has won the Hoop Shoot state championship five out of six years, takes three dribbles, spins the ball once and lets it fly.

He’s been shooting 300 free throws a day for years to perfect his craft.

“People have no idea how intense this competition is,” said Jordan’s father, Earnest Brown, who played at Auburn University in the mid-1990s and now coaches his son’s local AAU team. “They think it’s just standing up there and shooting free throws, but it’s extremely intense. If you take the same group of kids at the national level and have the same competition five times, you will have five different winners.”

Both times Jordan advanced to the national championship, the eventual winner was one of several kids who hit 25-of-25 free throws before needing to win the title in a shoot-off.

Zocko hit 21-of-25 in the regional competition this year and also has spent countless hours at the free throw line preparing for Saturday’s competition.

“It makes me proud to see that he is doing something that he enjoys doing,” said Zocko’s mom, Nakimbra Savage, who is an Albany resident. “For him to be on the honor roll and still have time to play sports on the side and then have time to compete in this, it makes me very, very proud.”

Live results during Saturday’s national competition can be viewed at www.elks.org/hoopshoot.