Show FRANK K BAKER BAKER- Nine games were lost in the thc state high school basketball basketball basketball bas bas- tournament because teams didn't sink their free throws The 26 to tournament games produced ed more free fre throwing chances than field goals with charit charity tosses and only 87 goals Only of the free throws throw were made S Four teams teams teams-Lehi Lehi Granite Nephi and Salina fell Sauna fell out o othe of the championship race on the very first day because they failed to capitalize on their opportunities at the free throwing line Lehi fell 41 39 before Ephraim's sharpshooters who made mad 13 out of 16 chances while Lehi was converting only five out o of 17 J Lehi ehi scored 17 times from the floor against 14 for the winners winners winners win win- ners but kicked that advantage awa away and lost by 2 points be because because because be- be cause it wasted 12 free throws Logan beat Granite 26 21 but not from the floor because field goals were even Logans Logan's point five-point margin was in the free irce throw column with the Grizzlies converting eight out o of 17 while the defending champions made good on only three chances out of 13 S S S When stocky B Byron ron Limb toed the foul line and threw I j in the free toss to tie tic the score with three seconds to play and gave Beaver its chance to win the overtime thriller from Nephi 30 27 he was simply pouring salt on n a raw wound so far for as the Wasps were concerned Nephi had a field goal edge in that game with 11 against 10 but the Wasps connected only four times in 15 free throws whereas Beaver converted 10 out of 22 S S S p I Then there was the championship game in which J Jordan ordan beat Ogden 21 The champions came through ugh with three long shots in the second half to take the victory but it wasn't those long tosses that beat Ogden Ogden lost because it missed seven free throws out of ofil 11 S S S Logan was another last night loser that must blame its V poor free throwing for defeat Murray 1 was the winner 2924 2924 2924 29 24 b but t Logan missed 11 gift shots out of which it needed only six to win Granite beat Pa Payson son on the second night 19 18 b by making making making mak mak- ing five out of seven free throws while the Nebo represent representatives representatives t tives wasted eight chances an any one of which would have tied the score One more free throw on the third night would have en enabled enabled enabled en- en Beaver er to tie Logan instead of getting beat 26 25 and Dixie might have downed Ogden Friday had it made better use of its free throws instead of missing seven in go going going going go- go ing down to a point four-point defeat 33 S S SIts SIt's v Its It's an old old story this yarn about free throws Jordan missed all eight of its free throws last year when Granite took the championship game 18 16 to retain the title it had won the year before Outs Outscored cored from the floor by four points Granite kept the championship championship championship cham cham- because it made good on six of its eight free throws Granites Granite's championship triumph over Lehi in 1933 by a 40 38 score Ogden's overtime victory over Weber in the title game of 1932 19 16 Pleasant Grove in the Murrays Murray's margin over championship champion champion- ship game of 1931 and many others could have gone the other way had the losers made better use of their free throws S S S The free throw is something like the putt in golf Nearly Nearly Near Near- ly everybody agrees that it has much to do with the game but coaches and players have a hard time doing anything really worthwhile about it Few men can step to the foul line and drop the ball through the hoop in a crisis as calmly as Beavers Beaver's Mister fister Limb Lim did this year ear Maybe Limb was luck luck- lucky Maybe laybe he has nerves of steel More 1 likely he has practiced a lot on free throws S S S Success has not always crowned the efforts of players in these dramatic situations There was for example the heart rending case of Arthur McArthur captain of Dixie's Fliers in the 1923 tour tour- flament McArthur drew two free throws as the final gun sounded in the c championship game with Springville ahead 24 The Dixie captain missed and ano all but collapsed so great was his mental anguish h under the stress of the moment Oi of course that explains to a great extent why so many free throws are missed Its It's quite one thing to put the ball baIl through the hoop when nothing much is at stake and still sUIl another matter to do it with a championship depending on that throw This pressure gets the collegians too B. B Y U. U lost its second game o of the 1934 conference playoff with Wyoming 47 44 when success in four more of its 11 free ree throws would have won S 5 5 The P point int given iven for each successful free throw represents only i half the importance Had Ogden made its free throws in instead instead in- in stead of 01 missing them Jordan would have been under a lot more pressure than it was The consequently would have played much differently At least they couldn't have performed as confidently confidently a dently and calmly as they did with the upper hand |