Apollo-Ridge’s Brayden Myers looks to benefit more from ‘free points’

By: Josh Rizzo
Monday, December 1, 2025 | 3:45 PM

Apollo-Ridge boys basketball coach Greg Fox found the right way to test guard Brayden Myers. When Myers goes to the free-throw line in practice, the edict is simple.

If he misses, the team runs.

“I like putting the pressure on him,” Fox said of the senior. “He likes that pressure.”

The Vikings would have been a fit group a year ago. Myers was shooting around 20% from the charity stripe early in the season. While he improved as the year went along, he didn’t finish above 60%.

“As a team, we struggled and I struggled at the beginning of the year,” Myers said. “I worked on it a ton after that. This offseason has all been free throws.”

Myers’ steadfast dedication to making free throws showed up during Apollo-Ridge’s 52-34 win over Leechburg in their season opener Friday. He made all 11 of his free-throw attempts and finished with a team-high 19 points.

Myers, who averaged 7.8 points per game last season, has become emboldened to try to draw fouls. During the win over the Blue Devils, Myers’ first trip to the line came after a 3-pointer from the wing that was unlikely to go in.

He made all three free throws.

“They were playing aggressively the whole game,” Myers said. “Those guys are physical. When I come off a screen and see a guy that is lunging into me, I can look for a shot there that I know I’m probably not going to make.”

The Vikings, who finished last season 7-15 and missed the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs after going 1-9 in section, would like to make trips to the free-throw line as drama-free as possible.

“This is something we work on every day, you know, to be confident when you get up there and take your shots,” Fox said. “We chart free throws every day. They key is you also want to get the right people shooting at the line, shooting and creating those opportunities.”

Myers worked all offseason to position himself to be that person on whom Apollo-Ridge could depend. He spent countless hours practicing the shots by himself.

“It’s been a lot of time the past couple months,” Myers said. “I just spent a lot of time in the gym just banging out free throws.”

Myers wants to make sure his teammates don’t need to exert themselves any more than they have to. He also wants to find ways to make life easier on the Vikings to try and score.

Those points feel free.

“When I see those opportunities when I can get to the line, I just try to work hard because those points when I shoot free throws are free points for me,” Myers said. “That’s how I feel.”

Tags: Apollo-Ridge