Tarpon Springs girl, a free-throw ace, representing Southeast in Hoop Shoot contest

TARPON SPRINGS — Kayla Kivinski steps to the foul line and gives the basketball three bounces and a quick swirl between her hands.

Feet comfortably apart, she focuses on the basket's rim and with a flawless motion, sends the ball sailing into the net.

Swoosh!

Over and over, the routine is the same: step to the line, three bounces, swirl, focus, swoosh.

The 13-year-old, an eighth-grader at Tarpon Springs Middle School, has made such a routine of hitting free throws that she will represent the Southeast the weekend of April 24 at the Elks National Hoop Shoot contest in Springfield, Mass. The winner's name gets inscribed at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

"It's really nerve-racking," Kayla said Tuesday. "I like being the first one to shoot. That way, I set the standard and don't have to worry about how many I have to make to win."

Each year, the Elks host the Hoop Shoot contest in which six groups of young free-throw shooters compete. The groups are boys and girls ages 8-9, 10-11 and 12-13.

The contest is a way to involve students from all walks of life in a noncommercial sporting event, said Chuck Rulison of the Dunedin-Clearwater lodge and chairman of the district Hoop Shoot contest.

Each contestants gets 25 shots. Kayla is the first Florida contestant to make it to the nationals since 1995, Rulison said.

Kayla started her trek by winning Tarpon Springs' Elks Lodge 1719 contest in November.

She went on to win five contests that included district, state and regional to get to the all-expenses paid family trip to Massachusetts and the basketball hall of fame, where the contest will be held.

Because she made the most free throws at the Florida contest — 24 out of 25 — of any girl in the competition, Kayla won a trip to Orlando's Disney World.

I just keep practicing, trying to get better," said Kayla, who this year helped her middle school basketball team win its first district banner in 14 years. "I like basketball and want to play in college someday."

In the classroom, she's an A student and on the court, Kayla is the player who every coach wants on the team, said Stephanie Walden, Tarpon Springs Middle's coach.

"No matter what you ask her to do, she does it to the best of her ability," said Walden, noting that Kayla averaged 15 points a game. "She's the first one to practice and the last to leave."

Kayla is a shy teenager who often shares her huge smile instead of her words. Her mother, Monica Jukas, who also attended Tarpon Middle, said she is happy to watch her daughter evolve.

"She's so shy and to have that confidence she has when she's on the court is just amazing," Jukas said. "It's good to see her be so successful and not crack under that pressure, because it's a lot of pressure."

Demorris A. Lee can be reached at dalee@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4174