[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

BZ:

In your first post in this thread you stated that and I quote: “An intentional foul may or may not be a technical foul, but is ALWAYS a contact foul, 4-19-3.” I said that this is not a completely true statement. I stated in my response to your first post was that: “No where in NFHS R4-S19-A3 (nor in the NCAA Rules for that matter) does it say that contact must occur for a foul to be intentional.” I also stated that R4-S19-A3 also states that: “A foul that "neutralize[s] an opponent's obvious advantageous position" is an intentional foul.

You asked me to give an example of an intentional technical foul where no contact is involved. I will do better than give an example; I will relate an actual play that occurred during the 2003 YBOA GirlsÂ’ National Championship Tournament. I was not officiating in the game, because I was scheduled to officiate in the following game. The official who made the call is Daryl Long who has posted in this forum in the past.

The intentional technical foul occurred during a 13U Bracket Play game. Let me set the stage for you. As one sits at the ScorerÂ’s/TimerÂ’s Table, Team AÂ’ bench is to the right and Team BÂ’s bench is to the left. Team A was losing to Team B by two points with six seconds left in the fourth quarter. Team A had received a designated spot throw-in on the sideline in front of Team BÂ’s bench just to the left of the coaching box. Daryl was the Trail official. Team A set up in a line perpendicular to the sideline for its throw-in play; A1 was the player making the throw-in. The YBOA National Championship Tournaments are played using NFHS Rules and the coaching box. Coach B was sitting on his bench in the middle of what is his teamÂ’s coaching box. Daryl places the ball at A1Â’s disposal; A2 breaks for Team AÂ’ basket, and A1 hits A2 with a perfect baseball at the division line and A2 drives in for an uncontested layup. The buzzer sounds and the game goes into overtime.

With six seconds left in overtime we have déjÃ* vu all over again, only this time the score is tied. And when A1 (who is about 5Â’-04” tall) attempts to throw her baseball pass, Coach B (who is about 6Â’-02” tall) jumps up in front of A1 preventing her from throwing the ball to a wide open A2 who has no defender between her and Team AÂ’s basket. Daryl immediately put air in the whistle. Coach B has committed an intentional technical foul. What did Coach B do that was infraction of the rules? His actions “neutralize[d] an opponentÂ’s obvious advantageous position” as defined in NFHS R4-S19-A3.

No contact was involved but Coach BÂ’s actions were definitely intentional and therefore an illegal act and were definitely an intentional technical foul. You are incorrect when you state the R4-S19-A3 only pertains to acts meant to stop the game clock at the end of the game, it can also apply to contact away from the ball that do not have anything to do with stopping the game clock. An intentional foul also be excessive contact with an opponent. That is why I told you to go back and re-read R4-S19-A3; this rule contains more information than many people realize because the vast majority of the time it is used only when a team fouls to stop the clock.

MTD, Sr.