{"id":1318202,"date":"2020-02-12T13:00:07","date_gmt":"2020-02-12T20:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=993539"},"modified":"2020-02-12T13:00:07","modified_gmt":"2020-02-12T20:00:07","slug":"coal-ridge-3-point-ace-austin-gerber-in-running-to-compete-at-ncaa-final-four-preps-shooting-contest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/coal-ridge-3-point-ace-austin-gerber-in-running-to-compete-at-ncaa-final-four-preps-shooting-contest\/","title":{"rendered":"Coal Ridge 3-point ace Austin Gerber in running to compete at NCAA Final Four preps shooting contest"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Coal Ridge senior sharp-shooter Austin Gerber is in a social media-driven fan-vote contest to be picked for the NCAA Final Four 3-point shooting contest in Atlanta in early April.<\/strong>
Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

It\u2019s a long shot, but that\u2019s what Coal Ridge senior basketball player Austin Gerber does best.<\/p>\n

Gerber is shooting an impressive 47% from beyond the 3-point arc this season, knocking down 49 of his 105 attempts so far through 16 games, and averaging 18.4 points per game.<\/p>\n

He will be gunning to surpass 300 points total for the season Friday night against Aspen as the Titans (12-4, 5-1) look to make a run at the Class 3A Western Slope League regular-season title.<\/p>\n

Gerber\u2019s stats caught the attention of organizers for the American Family Insurance \u201c#DreamFearlessly Fan Vote\u201d online fan voting competition to select the top 3-point shooters and slam dunkers in the country to showcase their skills during the NCAA Final Four in Atlanta in April.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s up to fans to decide, and Coal Ridge High School is going all out to spread the word across the region that Gerber should be among them.<\/p>\n

The first round of voting in the four-week digital media contest is already underway<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The contest matches 16 of the top boys 3-point shooters in the nation in a bracket-style competition to determine the final #DreamFearlessly participant. Fans can vote once a day.<\/p>\n

The winner will compete with other contestants during the Final Four on April 4-6. There\u2019s also a voting contest for girls 3-point shooters and for players to compete in the slam dunk competition.<\/p>\n

The first round of voting ends at 11 a.m. (Mountain Time) Feb. 18. Each week, the field narrows until fans are asked to vote on the final two contestants from March 6-13.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a huge blessing and a great opportunity at the same time,\u201d Gerber said of the opportunity to showcase his skills on a national stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy coaches have been pushing all season for me to work harder and get better. And I have to thank my teammates for finding me the ball out on the court,\u201d he added. \u201cThis is a huge confidence booster, just knowing that other people are looking at it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gerber and his family, along with Coal Ridge officials including Athletic Director Ben Kirk and his coach, Paul Harvey, have been talking it up and encouraging the larger community to get out the vote for Gerber.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope people from all of our communities can rally behind a humble, Western Slope kid and send him to a big-time competition,\u201d Harvey said. \u201cAustin is a coach\u2019s dream. He loves the game of basketball, works extremely hard at his craft, and always carries himself with dignity and respect.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis opportunity is a testament to his dedication and perseverance.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n

Video highlight reels of each competitor on the contest web site can help fans determine their choice. Fans can vote daily at http:\/\/www.amfam.com\/fanvote<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Once the first round of voting is concluded, the quarterfinal round runs Feb. 19-26, the semifinals from Feb. 27 through March 5, and then the finals from March 6-13.<\/p>\n

One other Colorado athlete, Conifer\u2019s Elijah Cook, is also among the boys 3-point contestants. Representing Colorado for the girls are Carly Dilworth from Denver South and Jada Moore from Regis Jesuit.<\/p>\n

Alumni of the Final Four 3-point contest who now play in the NBA and WNBA include the Sacramento Kings\u2019 Buddy Hield, the Washington Mystics\u2019 Ariel Atkins, the Seattle Storm\u2019s Jordin Canada, the Atlanta Hawks\u2019 Trae Young and the Cleveland Cavaliers\u2019 Collin Sexton.<\/p>\n

Complete brackets with matchup details can be found on http:\/\/www.amfam.com\/fanvote<\/a>.<\/p>\n

jstroud@postindependent.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

via:: Post Independent<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Coal Ridge senior sharp-shooter Austin Gerber is in a social media-driven fan-vote contest to be picked for the NCAA Final Four 3-point shooting contest in Atlanta in early April.Chelsea Self \/ Post Independent It\u2019s a long shot, but that\u2019s what Coal Ridge senior basketball player Austin Gerber does best. Gerber is shooting an impressive 47% […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[160],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1318202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-09-05 22:27:08","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSKE Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1318202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1318202\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1318202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1318202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1318202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}