By Town Crier Staff Report

March 9 was a busy day in the Garibaldi household.

While St. Francis High senior Mike Garibaldi was in Sacramento playing in the Northern California Division II boys basketball final, his younger brother Joey was in Fresno competing for a state title in free throw shooting.

Both Garibaldis returned to Los Altos victorious.

Mike and his St. Francis teammates beat Hayward 72-63 in overtime to advance to last weekend’s state final (see story on Page 21).

Joey won his age bracket in the California state free throw competition, sponsored by the Knights of Columbus.

Joey, who attends St. Simon School in Los Altos, sank 22 of 25 free throws to claim the 13-year-old division. He competed against 12 other chapter champions from across the state.

Joey missed his first two shots, then hit 22 out of his next 23 to post his best score ever. The runner-up in the contest made 21 free throws.

Joey’s score has been submitted to the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the Knights of Columbus to be compared with others throughout the country. A nationwide winner will be announced in the coming weeks.

The California competition started locally at the grammar school level for students ages 10-14. It involves boys and girls from Catholic schools throughout the state. Joey made 12 of 15 shots to post the best score in his age division at St. Simon.

He then participated at the district level, which consisted of competitors from the Los Altos-Mountain View area. He won the district title by nailing 20 out of 25 free throws.

Later that day, Joey went up against the winners from other districts in Santa Clara County in the chapter competition. He won that by sinking 21 out of 25 shots, which qualified him for the state contest.