The boys finalists were determined Tuesday at Manhattan Christian College in the 2026 Hoop Holler N’ Shoot free throw contest. Six boys from a field of twelve go on to shoot in the finals of the boy's competition on December 29th at the K-State men’s game.
The six finalists are:
Easton Hall (Oliver Brown) - 4 out of 7 shots.
Jordy Sims (Amanda Arnold) 4 out of 7 shots.
Brooks Carlson (Northview) - 4 out of 7 shots.
Paxton Orr (Flint Hills Christian) - 3 out of 7 shots.
Quinn Marquez (Marlatt) - 3 out of 7 shots.
Samuel Burns (Lee) - 2 out of 7 shots.
Other boy school champions who did not make it to the finals are:
Kayson Thompson (Theodore Rosevelt), Brycen Harris (Manhattan Catholic), Levi Dietz (Bluemont), Clyde Hummel (Woodrow Wilson), Julian Nunez-Luna (Ogden), Shane Stimmel (Bergman).
Hoop Holler N’ Shoot, a program of the Manhattan Optimist Club, is a free throw contest for 5th graders in the Manhattan area grade schools. A boy and girl champion is determined at each school. The grade school champions move onto the semi-finals and finals held at Kansas State University basketball games. Over 550 students participated in the school competitions