Toby Spector sees many similarities between a free throw and a 15-foot putt.

For one, he usually makes both when given the opportunity.

The Waterville High School senior is the reigning state Class A individual golf champion, and one of four schoolboy basketball players who will compete in the state free-throw shooting championships Saturday morning at Husson College in Bangor as part of the annual Maine McDonald’s Senior All-Star Basketball Weekend.

“Both take extreme focus,” said Spector. “You have to have the same motion every time or it is not going to work.”

Spector, a 6-foot-2 guard, qualified for the state shoot-off by making 49 of 50 tries during the Central Region qualifier held at Waterville in January. Spector missed his second shot, then made 48 straight.

“The key is to get into a rhythm,” said Spector, who plans to attend Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., next fall. “I’m a really quick free-throw shooter, I just try to block everything else out. I make sure to have the ball in the same spot in my hands, with the same release.”

Spector, a two-year starter at Waterville, began his high school career with a less-than aesthetically pleasing shot.

“The ball was behind my head, it was so ugly,” he said. “In the summer after my freshman year I changed that, and moved the ball in front of my head. I was a pretty bad shooter, I needed to do something if I wanted to play.”

Spector has a specific routine when he shoots, as does 2003 state champion Jeremy Chasse of Van Buren, who is back to defend his title after winning the Northern Region title for the second straight year.

“Repetition is the key,” said Chasse, a 5-9 senior guard who led Van Buren to a berth in this year’s Eastern Maine Class D quarterfinals. “I try to do the same thing every time, and always remember to follow through on my shot.”

Chasse, who shot nearly 90 percent from the line during the high school season, won his regional by making 48 of 50 attempts. That followed a successful run to the 2003 state championship during which he made 49 of 50 at the regional – missing only his final shot – and 47 of 50 in the state finals.

“I feel pretty confident,” said Chasse, who plans to study masonry next fall. “If I stick to my routine and do the same thing with every shot, I should do OK.”

Spector and Chasse will be challenged in the boys division by Owen Johnson of Boothbay (43 of 50 to win the Eastern Region qualifier) and Scott Sargent of Bonny Eagle of Standish (47 of 50 in the Southern Region qualifier).

The girls’ finalists are led by Samantha Wiley, a 5-5 junior guard from Camden Hills High in Rockport who made 48 of 50 to win her qualifier.

“One big thing for me was that I didn’t count my free throws when I was shooting, I just shot,” said Wiley, who helped the Windjammers win the Eastern B title this winter.

Wiley’s free-throw shooting routine includes spinning the ball and letting it bounce, taking three dribbles, spinning the ball in her hands and then shooting.

Other competitors in the state schoolgirl free-throw finals will be Amber Smith of Ashland (48 of 50 in the regionals), Logahn Walker of Mount Abram of Salem (34 of 50) and Mary Beaman of York (45 of 50).

Smith leaves Central post

The Central of Corinth boys basketball team will be led by a new varsity coach next winter with the recent decision by Eric Smith to resign from the post he has held for the last four seasons.

Smith, also a math teacher at Central, cited personal reasons for leaving the basketball job.

The Greenville native said he hopes to return to coaching in the future, but doesn’t expect to man the sidelines next season.

The Red Devils finished the 2003-04 season with a 3-15 record, and have not had a winning record since 1999, when Central finished the regular season at 14-4 under former head coach Jamie Russell, now the boys varsity coach at Piscataquis Community High in Guilford.

Ernie Clark may be reached at 990-8045, 1-800-310-8600 or eclark@bangordailynews.net