The players on a basketball team made some three-point shots, some two-point shots, and some one-point free throws. They scored as many points with two-point shots as with three-point shots. Their number of successful free throws was one more than their number of successful two-point shots. The team's total score was $61$ points. How many free throws did they make?
$\textbf{(A)}\ 13 \qquad \textbf{(B)}\ 14 \qquad \textbf{(C)}\ 15 \qquad \textbf{(D)}\ 16 \qquad \textbf{(E)}\ 17$
For the points made from two-point shots and from three-point shots to be equal, the numbers of made shots are in a $3:2$ ratio. Therefore, assume they made $3x$ and $2x$ two- and three- point shots, respectively, and thus $3x+1$ free throws. The total number of points is \[2 \times (3x) + 3 \times (2x) + 1 \times (3x+1) = 15x+1\]
Set that equal to $61$, we get $x = 4$, and therefore the number of free throws they made $3 \times 4 + 1 = 13 \Rightarrow \boxed{A}$