All of those practices at the free-throw line paid off for Wellsville-Middletown freshman Carson Huff on Feb. 25 in the Class 1, District 10 championship game against the Higbee Tigers at Pilot Grove High School.

Huff helped W-M capture its second straight district championship by turning in a strong performance at the charity stripe, making 11 free throws, all of them in the fourth quarter. W-M knocked off Higbee 38-34 to advance to the sectional round.

Huff finished with 14 points in his first district championship game appearance. Last year, he got to see the Tigers win the Class 2 district tournament at New Haven as a spectator.

“I couldn’t have done it without my teammates,” Huff said.

W-M improved to 18-6 and defeated Higbee for the second time this season. W-M beat Higbee 67-60 in the championship game of the Keytesville Tournament on Jan. 29.

“It’s crazy,” Huff said. “It was definitely a lot harder the second time than in the first.”

The Tigers were scheduled to play Northwest High School of Hughesville in the sectional round on March 1. Last year, they were eliminated in the Class 2 quarterfinals.

W-M, the top seed in the Pilot Grove district tournament, began its postseason play on Feb. 23 with a 50-32 win over fourth-seeded Jamestown in the semifinals.

Trailing 16-14 midway in the third quarter in the finals against Higbee, W-M went on an 11-0 run that carried into the fourth quarter and took a 25-16 lead.

Senior Keaton Mayes, who returned in the semifinals against Jamestown after missing several games due to a hip flexor injury, gave W-M an 18-16 lead after receiving a pass from teammate Isaac Seabaugh and scoring a layup.

Mayes finished with four points. He said he was happy that his high school basketball career will continue for at least another game.

“The whole week, I knew it was going to be a tough game,” Mayes said. “I was really stressed and nervous the whole week thinking about it. I’m glad that we were able to pull it off. The relief of it being over and it going my way made me very happy and emotional.”

Huff made all of his free throws within the last two minutes of the game. He made a total of 17 trips to the free-throw line.

“That’s so much pressure for a freshman,” Mayes said. “When it was time to step up, he gave us an answer to do it. I love him. He’s the greatest freshman I ever played with.”

Huff said the team shoots free throws at the end of practice every day.

“The last four or five weeks, we split into two teams and the winners got ice cream,” the freshman said. “So we really have to focus on those free throws. I think that really helped us tonight.”

Seabaugh finished with 16 points to lead W-M. He went 8 for 9 from the free-throw line. He also started the 11-0 run by scoring a basket with 3:20 left in the third quarter.

Higbee, the No. 2 seed, ended its season at 26-3. A year ago, the Randolph County school finished fourth in the Class 1 state tournament.

Sophomore Derek Rockett finished with 19 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter, and sophomore Jordan Fuemmeler added nine to lead Higbee.

“We played a well-coached team,” W-M coach Steve Lasman said. “This is like the fourth time we played them and it’s always a struggle. (Higbee coach) Tanner (Burton) does a great job. He’s got two superstars in Rockett and Fuemmeler. But somehow, our kids held on.”

W-M won its 14th district title in program history.