Morse-Karzen takes his best shot, claims second at Pop-A-Shot nationals

The bank was open on Friday, just not as late as Brett Morse-Karzen would have liked.

Competing in the Pop-A-Shot National Championship, Morse-Karzen took his bank shot — a technique of shooting the basketball off the backboard — to the finals before settling for a runnerup finish.

“Honestly, I’m happy. Second is great,” he told The Record, adding, “It was a cool, cool experience. I hope I get an invite next year.”

The national finals aired live on ESPN2 on Friday, Aug. 2, as a product of ESPN8: The Ocho, which supports alternative games and competitions, featuring everything from darts, dodgeball and Pop-A-Shot to axe throwing, juggling and belt sanding.

Pop-A-Shot, out of Peoria, Illinois, is the most well-known, and purportedly the original, brand of arcade basketball. In official gameplay, players get 30 seconds to shoot mini basketballs into an elevated goal about 5 feet away. In the first 20 seconds, each conversion is worth 2 points; in the final 10, each is worth 3. If a player eclipses 40 points, they receive an additional 15 seconds during which each make is 3 points.

The Record previously reported that Morse-Karzen, a Wilmette native and New Trier High School alumnus, received a heads up from a friend about an open Pop-A-Shot event in Chicago. It was a qualifier for the national championships, the first such Pop-A-Shot tournament in 25 years.

A lifelong fan of the game, Morse-Karzen was psyched to get involved. At the local qualifier, while he didn’t win the competition, he did post its highest point total of 114, which punched his ticket to the national championship in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

Thanks to a flight delay Thursday, Morse-Karzen did not arrive at his South Carolina hotel until after midnight. He slept just about four hours in advance for the big day — not that it impacted his play.

After about 90 minutes of warmup time in a local athletics complex, Morse-Karzen posted an opening score of 90 in the seeding round. The total was the second best among the eight competitors. The seeding was critical, as it kept him away from top-seeded Josh Caputo for as long as possible in the bracket.

Morse-Karzen swept his opening round best-of-three series, and then won 3-1 in the second round, earning three straight wins after a Game-1 loss in the best-of-five matchup. The efficient victories set him up with Caputo, who had dominated his way to the finals as well.

The competition, including Morse-Karzen’s performance, was must-see television for the campers at North Shore Racquet Club in Northbrook, where Morse-Karzen is the assistant tennis director. He said the instructors paused camp so everyone could watch him in action.

“It’s always nice to have the support from back home,” he said.

But Morse-Karzen couldn’t pull off the upset on Caputo, who he said was “on another level.”

Caputo — a resident of Montgomery, Illinois, an outer suburb about 45 miles west of Chicago — consistently toppled 100 points in his run to the Pop-A-Shot national championship.

For his efforts, Caputo’s name was engraved on the Pop-A-Shot national trophy and he received the Pop-A-Shot championship chain. Morse-Karzen didn’t leave empty-handed. Aside from a Manscaped razor, he said he also took home pride and ideas on how to improve.

Morse-Karzen said even when he had a better shooting percentage than Caputo, Caputo would still score higher because of his quick release and shot volume.

“It was fun, a fun experience. I’ve played a lot of Pop-A-Shot but never on ESPN,” he said. “I’ve now seen it and know a few things that might be able to help me moving forward. We’ll see what my Pop-A-Shot future holds.”

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