This call is so bad it feels like a fix.
Referees generally catch too much flak when they botch a call, but this one from the New Jersey high school basketball playoffs utterly defies belief.
The No. 3 ranked Camden Panthers were on the verge of winning vs. Manasquan when their opponents took the ball down the court and hit a very obvious buzzer beater. Cheering and sadness then reversed, as referees inexplicably waved off the final shot — saying it came after the buzzer.
This isn’t even a borderline call. In real time it’s incredibly clear that Manasquan got it off in time, and when you slow it down by frame it gets even worse. Look at this screenshot here where the ball is already mid-flight, with the game clock still showing 0.5 seconds remaining.
All three officials on the game conferred and agreed that the ball left the player’s hand after time expired. How three people could all be so wrong baffled the mind, and their coach Andrew Bilodeau didn’t mince his words about how disgusted he was with the call, telling NJ.com:
“They reversed the call. The referee in the C position in the middle signaled basket’s good, they huddled up and then 15 kids got screwed in front of 1,000 people,” Bilodeau said. “Print that. Print it five times. Those three guys huddled up and they screwed these kids in front of 1,000 people and that video will be on the internet for everyone to see.”
Bilodeau is absolutely correct. The players got screwed over, and that’s not up for debate. Unfortunately for Manasquan, the result of the game is also not up for debate. The team lost an appeal to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA), on the grounds that the NJSIAA doesn’t allow video review to be part of its decision making process, for some ungodly reason.
The incident is leaving everyone feeling uneasy, especially considering the stakes of the game. Not only was this a playoff contest, but Camden is historically regarded as the best high school program in the state, so to see the rules be so blatantly bent to allow them to win and move on is leaving everyone with a bad taste in their mouth.
Manasquan is now exploring legal action due to incident. According to the Asbury Park Press, part of the rejection on appeal claimed that the school isn’t able to challenge “based upon an officials’ judgement or misinterpretation of the playing rules.” The school contests that they aren’t disputing a judgement call, but rather an overt one where the ball was in the air while time expired and went in.
It’s unclear where this goes from here. The next round of the playoffs is to be held on Saturday, with Manasquan wanting an injuction to stop the games while this decision is reviewed. However, if the NJSIAA doesn’t allow video review to overturn a call, and you can’t challenge an official’s bad decision making — what exactly can you challenge?
The world needs to see this and know that Manasquan won this game. It’s overtly clear, and one of the worst ref robberies you’ll ever see.
