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One of the things I like about this forum is that it's a place we can share things we did not do correctly so we can all learn from them.
I did a Boys HS Varsity game last night. Visitors are up by 12 with 2 1/2 minutes left. All of a sudden the home team gets hot and starts bombing 3s. With about a minute left the visitors are up by 5 and their center drives the lane for a layup. I am C. He runs over a home defender as he is releasing the ball, which leads to my error. I hesitate on the call since L is about 2 feet from this. He doesn't make the call (after the game he said he was blocked by another defender). I blow the whistle as the ball is entering the basket. I then close down a little and take about another 3 secs to actually make the call as a PC foul. As I am closing down I am running the following things through my head: what the proper mechanic is, does the goal count, which direction are we going. With all this the call is late and the V coach goes wild (justifiably, and I was expecting it). By the way, the L in this play calls another PC foul on the same player about 15 secs later, home hits a couple more threes and ends up winning by 2.
I have NO doubt the foul I called was PC. Both my partners (one a very experienced college and HS ref) agreed it was a PC. My mistake was not selling it strong at such a heated time in the game. It looked like I was unsure of the call. I knew the minute I delayed that it was wrong mechanically. Anyway, just wanted to share a lesson learned with everyone: Sell it strong, especially in a tight game.
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