Adam Seefluth, a former varsity player, won the $5,000 half-court shot challenge on the first attempt at the Abbotsford basketball game Thursday evening. With it, he takes home half of the winnings, while the other half was donated to the school’s athletic program.
Seefluth didn’t even know the half-court shot was occurring when he decided to attend the game. A friend handed him the lucky ticket, though he certainly didn’t feel lucky while walking to the center line.
“I didn’t have a lot of faith going out there. You get two shots to make half-court. What are the odds of that?”
The ball felt small in his hands, and when Seefluth took the shot, he was sure it was short. But the ball ran right through the net, an instant winner.
He plans to put the money right into savings and is glad the other half will benefit the athletic program. “It gives schools a little help,” he said. “I’m sure that money will go a long way to help different sports in general.”
Seefluth is the first winner since 2016 (in Greenwood) of Forward Bank’s $5,000 challenge, held multiple times throughout the year in the form of touchdown tosses and center ice hockey shots. However, many attempts have come close.
“The half-court shot, like all events we conduct with our local schools, is to encourage fans in the stands to support our student athletes,” said Jennifer Sobotta, VP/Marketing Director at Forward Bank. “You see shots like this at pro games and occasionally at college games. We wanted to bring this to our local teams to create excitement and support the athletic programs.”
Participants are selected by a random drawing and must not be a past pro player. If they are a student athlete at the high school or college level, they should be conscious of NCAA and WIAA eligibility rules.
“Our area schools are always very welcoming as the Forward team conducts these events. They share in the excitement of the winners and understand that our collective goal is to support the student athletes,” said Sobotta. “Even when there is not a successful shot, they celebrate the fact that Forward still supports the program with a $250 donation to the school.”
