SACO — They call it the charity stripe, which seemed particularly appropriate Saturday.

Had Jim Sandler been a runner, his family might have organized a 5K in his memory. Had he liked golf, it might have been a scramble.

Instead, what Jim Sandler loved most, aside from doting on his six kids, was to shoot hoops. Sandler, who died last Memorial Day at age 69, regularly played pickup basketball into his seventh decade at the Saco Sport & Fitness gym.

That’s where a crowd of more than three dozen gathered to watch or take part in the inaugural Jim Sandler Memorial Foul Shooting Championship, which raised $2,500 for the Maine Cancer Foundation.

As a Biddeford High senior in 1964, Sandler made 48 of 50 free throws at both a regional competition in Gorham and again in Orono to win a state title over champions from Eastern and Central Maine. Yellowed clippings celebrating the “bespectacled sharpshooter from Biddeford” were on display as Sandler’s family sold T-shirts and raffle tickets, and took registrations.

“My dad was a pure shooter,” said Austin Sandler, 20, a junior-to-be at the University of Vermont. “He didn’t have a Steph Curry quick release but once he was set up, he was automatic.”

The younger Sandler played basketball at Kennebunk High, the only one of Jim’s kids to play varsity ball. Austin learned to dribble twice, spin the ball to find the seams and keep his elbow in.

Carly Sandler, the youngest, is a senior lacrosse player at Kennebunk High. Plenty of teammates joined her on the court but none advanced past the first round of 10 shots.

Carly Sander, a senior at Kennebunk High School and daughter of the late Jim Sandler, uses some “body English” to try to coax in a foul shot during the preliminary round of the first Jim Sandler Memorial Foul Shooting Championship at Saco Sports and Fitness.

Carly missed her first five before switching to an underhand style and swishing a shot. She made one more but that was it. Of course, she hadn’t played basketball since eighth grade; Alpine skiing was her winter sport of choice.

Rick Barry, you may remember, famously shot free throws with an underhand flip and retired as the NBA free throw leader at 89.98 percent. That mark has since been surpassed, first by Mark Price (90.39), then Steve Nash (90.43) and, most recently, by Curry (90.16).

Free throws are fickle things, often unrelated to overall basketball ability. It’s a shot from 15 feet, trying to send a round ball nine inches wide into a hoop 18 inches in diameter.

NBA players average 3 of 4 with some notorious outliers. Wilt Chamberlain (51.1 percent) and Shaquille O’Neal (52.7) barely made more than half their attempts.

“Dad said when you’re at the free throw line, you should make it every time,” Austin Sandler said. “You’re wide open. Nobody’s guarding you.”

Ah, but when you’re alone at the line, there’s time to think, time to allow the mind to interfere with the body. Jim Sandler found a way to quiet his thoughts and put together streaks of 43 and 42 during his championship run.

The NBA record for consecutive free throws is 97 (Micheal Williams, 1993). A retired dairy farmer, Ted St. Martin, set the world record of 5,221 in 1996.

On Saturday, four shooters from the initial batch of 28 advanced by sinking 9 of 10.

Ali Covie, 25, is the center’s service desk manager. A lefty, she played at Messalonskee and later coached at Montpelier (Vermont) High. She takes one dribble and imparts plenty of backspin.

“I wasn’t that good in high school,” she said. “As I got older, I learned better technique.”

The championship round, in deference to Sandler, comprised 50 shots. Covie sank 35 to finish fourth.

Mary Redmond, 20, of Scarborough plays basketball at St. Leo University in Florida. A quick knee dip precedes her shot and she follows through on tippy toes. In games she takes one dribble before her first free throw. If successful, she doesn’t dribble before her second.

“It’s mental,” she said. “You’ve got to believe it’s going in.”

After a rocky start, Redmond finished with 38 to place third.

Barrett Belanger, 30, teaches special education and coaches basketball at Kennebunk High. He tells players to stick with a routine before each free throw. His includes two dribbles.

“It gives me a chance to settle down,” he said, “and take a breath.”

Belanger sank 42 of 50 to place second.

On Saturday, the current coach, former coach and current collegiate player took a back seat to a 20-year-old buddy of Austin Sandler who hasn’t even played pickup since last summer. He abandoned organized ball after his freshman year at Kennebunk High.

Nick Emmons, the former Kennebunk quarterback and shortstop, had no set routine.

“I was just staring at the rim,” he said, “trying not to move my right foot.”

Emmons made 45 of 50, including a stretch of 18 straight. He earned a celebratory twirl atop Austin’s shoulders.

Line up straight and keep your elbow tucked, Emmons advised. He also used a finishing flourish learned in junior high: “Reach for the sky and say goodbye.”

For a memorial foul shooting competition, there could be no more appropriate epitaph.

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