[A Pennsylvania Coach]

I had my third JV game, girls, yesterday. Big schools, in a big new gym (they are calling it an "arena" and that's fairly accurate). First half, fouls were V 1, H 8. The one came with about a minute-and-a-half left. After I noticed it was 7-0, I was aware that it would probably be good to find one soon, but there just wasn't anything there. The H coach was chirping a bit about it, and a lot about a play he wanted a travel on. It was two big strides for the layup, looked ugly, but definitely not a walk. I was feeling frustrated with the first half for these reasons. Then I passed on a T I probably should've called. The V coach, while leaving the floor at halftime, said to somebody else while looking at me, "They're screwing us." I snapped my head around and stared him down but didn't pull the trigger.

My partner (an experienced guy who used to do a lot of varsity but is in his upper 60s now and slowing down) and the varsity officials picked me up at half. They all had positive feedback for me, and the varsity guys both agreed the one play in question wasn't a travel. When I asked them about the coach's comment, they advised me to get away from the teams as they exit at the half, which I hadn't thought of but was good advice. I was moving from the lead on the end they were going to exit on to the table, so fairly close by their path.

Early in the third quarter, the V stretched the lead to 38-20. H went on a quick run and made it 38-28 by the end of the quarter. The margin stayed around 10 until the final 2 minutes. H forced a few turnovers and made three straight threes (the second a long one and the third was a chuck-it-in from 25) to make it 46-44. They fouled after the inbound with 8.9 seconds left, my call as the new trail. That meant I'd be trail after the FTs and have the last shot. It was pretty loud as the H team had most of the varsity crowd already there. Sure enough, the H missed both of the double bonus, and with no timeouts left, V raced to get a decent look at a three and a putback attempt (there was a little bump on the rebound but nothing I'd call a foul) that was in time but no good. I felt great about the second half and was especially proud that I bounced back after being frustrated in the first half, even if I shouldn't have been.

One question. During some FTs with about 30 seconds left, I heard somebody in the crowd screaming about how the clock didn't run for about 6 seconds. Nobody at the table was calling for us and neither coach was saying anything about it, so I dismissed it. However, according to the V assistant, there was a few seconds with the clock not running. Should I have gone to my partner (he was the R) or the table about it when I heard the fan freaking out?

The varsity game was entertaining as well. The H coach is notorious for paying far more attention to the officials than to coaching his team. I stayed for the whole thing, going into the locker room at half and after. In the first half, he snapped about an obvious back court; an errant pass that was run down by a teammate. He wasn't that far from the trail official who called it, and he started yelling about a tip by the opponents. According to the official, he said "you didn't have an angle on that" (which is funny, because if he couldn't see a tip, he has to call the backcourt, right?). The official responded with "And you did? You have the same angle as me! It is time for you to sit down and be quiet!" But no T.

V was up 3 at half, and the better team IMHO. But H went on a run, got up 7, and started giving it back slowly. Still up 40-38 with about 3:30 left, there was a held ball with both players on the floor. A couple seconds after the whistle, the H player gave a hard forearm to the V player still on the floor. Easy T. After the FTs and the possession, it was 42-40 V. V got the ball with 1:20 left 44-44, and held for one shot. (They have three excellent ball-handlers, one of the few girls' teams that could confidently hold it that long.) After a timeout with 12.2 left, they hit a jumper at about 3.0. H coach requested a timeout and got it right away. I thought 2.2 or 2.1 when I heard him yell. The clock stopped at 1.8, so no problem, right? Wrong. The H coach met the official reporting the timeout out on the floor screaming about putting time back up, and he got pinned. He probably should've been run, out on the floor in the ear of the other guy during the FTs, still animated. Afterward, they both agreed they could've and maybe should've tossed him.

All in all, it was a very interesting night. I definitely learned a couple things and I can't wait to get back out there.