[Camron Rust]

Yes, there should probably be some verbiage to account for the case of getting down to one player. That said, when you get down to just one player, only one player is required to be in the space. It is a rare case that should be handled with the spirit of the rule even if it isn't spelled out.


The penalty for violating the rule requiring two players from the defense to be in the lower spaces isn't a delay violation, it is a technical foul before you even take the shots. When you're down to one player, team B can't refuse to be in the space if they don't have a player to occupy it.



I have had it happen once in my career and nearly happen a second time (in 2019).

In the first, the team with 1 had only started with 6 players. They were playing very aggressively and had a comfortable lead as they started losing players (foul outs and injury). The other team started eating into the lead a little and the team got down to 1 player with under a minute to go and held on to win.

In the second, a Boys Varsity team that had traveled form out of state had over a dozen team members on the bench but over half of them were in street clothes. They played the night before. We assumed they must have been suspended for some reason. Only 6 were dressed and they were not the starters from the previous game. They had a couple of foul outs and a couple of injuries. They only got down to two players. One of the injured came back later to get back to 3 players. Even before they got short handed, they were getting their butts kicked. After the game, in the locker room, I overheard the coach talking to the team about choices and consequences as we walked out. (They were all incredibly respectful to us as we passed by).