Whitney Parker knocked down all 20 of her free throw attempts in the ASAA free throw competition last month and is one of the four contest winners.--NEWS PHOTO KELLEN TANIGUCHI
ktaniguchi@medicinehatnews.com@@kellentaniguchi
Whitney Parker is one of four participants to sink all 20 shots from the foul line in the Alberta Schools Athletic Association’s free-throw challenge last month.
The Grade 11 guard for the Medicine Hat High School’s girl’s basketball team says competing against other athletes across the province motivated her for the challenge.
“It was really nice coming in and being able to do some type of competition even though it wasn’t a real basketball game,” she said. “It just shows that hard work can pay off and it’s worth it to put in the work.”
Parker says she spent this year working on her shot because she knows how important it is to make open shots in games, including from the free-throw line.
“Free throws can win or lose games, so I know how important they are and I’ve seen it first hand,” said Parker. “Even in our practice plans, our coaches make free throws very important and when I go into the gym by myself, I make sure to shoot a lot.”
Hat High’s girls basketball coach says he is excited for Parker for being one of the contest’s winners.
“Anytime you have a player step up like that and achieve an award or some kind of an accomplishment it’s awesome,” said Jeff Harrold. “It speaks to the hard work that she’s putting in.”
Harrold says he is excited to have Parker on the team and is looking forward to seeing her play for the Hawks.
“She’s a good little guard that can handle the ball, she’s really good at taking you off the dribble, finding space, kick outs, getting you an easy bucket, so she creates a lot of open shots and we’re really excited for her and what she’s going to bring, not just offensively but defensively as well she’s got a great first step and she’s really good at keeping her man in front of her,” said Harrold.
He says they have been working on a lot of the fundamentals and skill development this year which are important for success in games.
“Even at the high school level, you got to have players with the ability to knock down shots,” said Harrold. “In pressure situations like the free throw line it is very, very important for her to have that confidence and be able to step up and knock down a shot whether it be foul shots or just an open shot is really important and something we look for and focus on at this level.”
