Lorain fifth-grader Jaxon Ramos is one step away from having his name on a plaque in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Already a state champion of Ohio, Jaxon, 10, triumphed again in the Elks Hoop Shoot contest and earned his place as the champion of the contest’s Great Lakes Region 4 in South Bend, Ind.
He now will compete for the contest’s national championship in April at Chicago’s Wintrust Arena, home of the WNBA’s Chicago Sky.
Jaxon and his family will be flown to Chicago by the Elks for the weekend-long event, according to Brian Bartlebaugh, the youngster’s grandfather.
“He kind of surprised everybody (and) ended up winning,” Bartlebaugh said. “He beat (kids from) Indiana, Michigan; he won Ohio.
“Now, he’s going to Chicago for the national championship.”
To clinch a spot in the national finals, Jaxon had to make 13 free throws in a row, Bartlebaugh said.
According to the young shooter, it was no big deal.
“I was thinking don’t get down on yourself, just shoot,” said Jaxon, a fifth-grader at Toni Morrison Elementary School in Lorain. “Keep shooting. Good things will happen.”
As it turned out, good things happened.
Jaxon will be the Great Lakes region’s representative in the boys age 10-11 category, Bartlebaugh said.
The national finals will host 72 child-age free throw specialists in total, he said.
Jaxon is one of just 12 winners in his category.
“It’s a huge thing; it’s a three-day thing with banquets and tours,” Bartlebaugh said. “They’re flying him to Chicago with his family.
“Once it gets to that point, he’s like a celebrity.”
Jaxon has earned his newfound reputation among Elks members, Bartlebaugh said.
According to records with the Lorain Elks Lodge, 203 W. Sixth St., Jaxon is in the midst of the deepest run any representative from the lodge has ever had.
According to Bartlebaugh, Jaxon and his family had some fun before telling those at the Lorain Elks that he yet again had won.
He’s still 10 years old after all, the grandfather said.
“We had him call (The Lorain Moose Lodge) and say ‘P.J., I tried really hard, I tried to make you proud … I could only get first place,'” Bartlebaugh said. “They’re so proud of it.
“It’s like it’s the biggest thing to hit the Lorain Elks in years.”
In addition to playing along with his antics, the Lorain lodge already has thrown two banquets in Jaxon’s honor, Bartlebaugh said.
“I wish that everyone could have an opportunity with this,” said Brittney Bartlebaugh, Jaxon’s mother. “We’ve been very blessed with Lorain Elks.
“(They have) been a No. 1 supporter the entire time.”
A third banquet is being planned for April 1 in honor of Jaxon’s regional title win, and should he take home a national championship, there would certainly be a fourth dinner in order.
“We’ll see what happens, I don’t know,” Jaxon said. “I’m going to win, but I don’t know what we’re going to do after.”
Lorainites looking to follow Jaxon’s efforts in Chicago will be able to live stream the entirety of the contest’s national finals from April 20-23 at www.elks.org/hoopshoot.
