The annual High Country Hoops Camp ended last week at Ashe County High School with players from several age groups learning and improving their basketball skills.

Head basketball coach Marc Payne hosted the event, with kids from third grade all the way up to sophomores at the high school participating in the three-day camp.

The morning session included all players from rising third graders through sixth graders. That session lasted from 9 a.m. until noon each day. Following a break for lunch, rising seventh through tenth graders took the court from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m.

At the conclusion of the camp last Thursday, Coach Payne and the rest of his camp staff tallied up scores from the hotshot and free throw shooting competitions, as well as preparing the trophies for the 1-on-1 tournament champions.

For the third graders, Hunter Jones and Colby Greer each tied for the hotshot championship while Colby took sole possession of first place in the free throw shooting contest.

In grades four through six, one player swept each event. For the fourth graders, Alec Roland took first place in the hotshot and free throw competitions. Caleb Key was the fifth grade winner of both contests as well. Sixth grader Connor Jones racked up on awards by winning both shooting competitions as well as being named Most Outstanding Camper of the morning session.

The afternoon session was just as competitive all around as the morning groups. All of the players in the second session also competed in a 1-on-1 tournament to go along with the other two shooting events. Seventh graders had three different athletes win the awards. Joseph Lowder won the hotshot competition while Kendall Richardson took the free throw shooting title and Jeffery Wallace won the 1-on-1 tourney.

For the rising eighth graders, Thomas Sexton was crowned champion of the hotshot while Jake Griffin took home the glory of winning the free throw competition and the 1-on-1 tournament.

In the ninth grade events, Cullen Ashley took first in hotshot and free throw shooting while Devan Sheets.

One tenth grader had a spectacular camp at ACHS. Nehemiah Stafford swept all three events, and was also named Most Outstanding Camper in the afternoon session. Stafford will be looking to build off of a good JV basketball season last year and an excellent camp showing last week.

As part of the High Country Hoops Camp tradition, the Ashe County Optimist Club also hosted their annual Tri-Star Basketball Contest. On Wednesday, 24 athletes from different age groups competed in three events with scores added up after all three to determine the winners. Awards were given to the first, second, and third place basketball players in their respective age groups. The scoring was based on how accurate they could make passes, the speed of their dribbling through cones set up on the gym floor as well as the shooting station where each player would attempt free throws and shots just outside the lane to determine who were the top shooters.

The winners in the eight and nine-year-old groups were Luke Hudler, who ­took home first place, followed by Simon Houck in second and a tie for third between Noah Vannoy and Alec Roland. The 10 and 11-year-olds also competed, with Grant Thompson taking first place, followed by Dylan Wooten in second and Connor Jones in third. The final age group to compete were the 12 and 13-year-olds in the afternoon session. Austin Price won first place, followed closely by Stanton Moore in second and Bradley Lewis in third.

The Ashe Optimist Club will also be hosting the same Tri-Star competition next week at the girls basketball camp hosted by Lady Huskies’ head coach Laura Foster.