Wareham’s young hoopers have been practicing their free throws.

A group of about 25 9-, 10-, 11- and 12-year-old boys participated in the annual Knights of Columbus Free Throw Championship on Saturday at the Gleason Family YMCA. Four will move on to district competitions at the end of this month after winning their respective age groups in the local Father Francis Grogan Council 15280-sponsored event.

Those four include Ryan Sullivan, 9, who hit nine of 15 shots; Xavier Hendricks, 10, who hit eight of 15 shots; Kaemen Thomas, 11, who hit 12 of 15 shots; and Joshua Flaherty, 12, who hit nine of 15.

"I think it went really, really good,” said Bob Schwarz of the Wareham Knights of Columbus. “I'm sorry we don't have any girls, but things moved smoothly and we had great weather. We picked a great time to be outside.”

The contest, which is normally held inside at the YMCA’s basketball courts, was held outside because of a scheduling conflict. A mild 45-plus degree day proved to be no distraction for the shooters, who still shot well despite being outdoors.

Local Knights of Columbus Grand Knight Leo Breault said that each council across the country has it's own competition. He also said that this was Thomas’ second time winning the contest for his age group, and that he finished third in the state competition last year.

“I shot pretty well,” said Thomas.

The district contest will be at the end of the month, the regional contest will in March at Sacred Heart School in Kingston, and states will be held at Nichols College in late March.