A seventh-grade boy in MInot, North Dakota managed to make the jackpot of his life by sinking four different shots in a basketball contest to win the grand prize of $10,000. The boy who managed the different shots is JJ Franks, a resident of Minot and the shooting challenge came during a high school basketball game, and, though a middle-schooler, he managed to win it.
The four different shots Franks needed to sink to win the challenge were a layup, a free throw, a three-pointer, and a half-court shot. He had only 25 seconds to do so, yet managed to flawlessly run through the challenge and make all four. The awesome moment occurred at Minot’s Bishop Ryan Catholic School during the game’s halftime.
As background, the challenge is one that Bishop Ryan Catholic School had running for all of its home games in January and February. During each game, one fan in attendance would be given the opportunity to sink all four shots in 25 seconds and walk away with the big prize.
In this case, that fan was JJ Franks, and he somehow managed to succeed in making the increasingly difficult shots and walk away with the stack of folding money, hopefully to be saved or invested wisely. He made the first three shots without showing much effort, then made it to the half-court mark for a the final one and flung a Hail Mary shot at the basket. It was nothing but net.
After he managed to make the shots, with the last one from across the court being particularly wild, the fans who had been breathlessly watching him rushed onto the court to congratulate him and celebrate the awesome moment.
Watch Franks sink the shots here
Speaking to local media outlet Valley News Live about the awesome moment, Franks said, “You only get one shot at that, so if you miss, you miss.” Continuing, he added what he was thinking as he flung the last shot at the basket, saying, “I was thinking, ‘I’m probably not going to make it, but I’ve just got to try and try and hope it goes in.'”
Franks also thanked God for his success in sinking that last, nail-biter of a shot, saying, “That was one in a million, and through the power of God, it went in.” Similarly, his mother, Marie, credited God for his sinking the shot, saying, “The first three, I thought he has some basketball talent, but the last shot, really, I think was maybe more a gift from God than it was some natural talent.”
Also commenting on the moment was Ramsey Walz, one of the players for Bishop Ryan. He, commenting on the final shot Franks made, said, “Just Tom Brady throws it, banks in it. It’s just like, ‘No way.’ Everyone storms the court, and it was pretty cool.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video
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