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NAPLES — Swish.

That satisfying sound of leather sliding across nylon when a perfectly shot basketball goes through the net. We heard that sound over and over and over Friday in Lake Region High School’s gymnasium.

Ryan Martin attempted to claim his third world record. This time, Martin went for most free throws made in an hour.

After 60 minutes, he had 2,336 makes. The record, though, is 2,461. With his final shot in the air and the buzzer sounding, Martin collapsed to the court, his feet still taped to the hardwood so he wouldn’t accidentally cross the line and have a make annulled. He stayed on the court for a few minutes, then sat with his back against the wall at the baseline while a leg cramp subsided.

Martin took 2,667 shots. His shooting percentage was an impressive 88%. He fired up an average of 44 shots per minute for 60 minutes. Saturday, his shoulders will feel like cinderblocks.

“Oh, that was hard,” Martin said after taking a few minutes to compose himself. “We done that a lot, but it was never that hard. Maybe it was the heat. After 10 minutes, the tape was coming off the floor because of the humidity.”

Last summer, Martin set the world record for 3-pointers made in an hour, 1,134, He broke his own record soon after, making 1,372 threes in an hour.

Swish.

Free throws are all about muscle memory and confidence. Repeat the same shooting motion over and over and over until you no longer think about it, and you should get a swish every time, right?

If only. A defender can never get in the way of your shot when you’re at the line, but your brain can.

Martin’s hour began at 5:52 with a miss. Then, the makes started falling. Ten minutes in, he had 420 made shots. Twenty minutes in, he was at 833. Six friends rebounded keeping the ball rack in front of Martin continuously full. His friend Nick Beauchesne served as master of ceremonies, updating the crowd throughout with Martin’s status and how far off the record pace he was.

Swish.

Martin was named Mr. Maine Basketball in 2008 as a senior at Maranacook, before going on to a college career at the University of Maine and Keene State, then playing professionally in Canada. As a sophomore at Keene, Martin led all of NCAA men’s college hoops with his 96.1 free-throw percentage, making 99 of 103 tries. If anyone in the state had a chance to break this record, it was Martin. His private shooting instruction business is Dr. Buckets. With just under 10 minutes to go, that’s what the crowd chanted to fire him up.

“Doc-tor Buck-ets! Doc-tor Buck-ets!”

At the halfway point, Martin had 1,229 makes. His pace quickened.

Swish.

Martin’s stare hardly ever left the rim. Shot after shot was the same. Bend knees, rise off the floor to his tiptoes, sliding a little but still taped to the floor, arm raised, tongue sticks out, and release. Eyes on the hoop, reaching for another ball on the rack and trusting it’s there.

Martin used the event to raise money for a Frommie’s Fight, supporting Chace Fromwiller’s fight with an aggressive brain tumor, and the Pat Moody Foundation, which supports youth sports in Windham in memory of the late Pat Moody. Martin’s voice broke as he recalled getting a message from Moody last August, after breaking the 3-point record.

“It’s people coming together. It’s people raising money for something bigger than basketball,” Martin said.

Martin made his 1,00th shot with 35:46 left. The 2,000th make came with 9:55 left.

Will Martin try again? Of course. Maybe when it’s not so hot in the gym.

“The whole point of that was to be OK with failure,” Martin said.

Martin didn’t break the record, but to call it a failure is to miss the point. You try, because to not try is the real failure. Martin knows he has the 126 more makes necessary to take the record in him.

“Anybody who’d call that a failure watched something else,” Beauchesne said.

Swish.