[BillyMac]

NFHS 4-15 DRIBBLE
ART. 5: An interrupted dribble occurs when the ball is loose after deflecting off the dribbler or after it momentarily gets away from the dribbler. There is no player control during an interrupted dribble.
ART. 6: During an interrupted dribble:
a. A closely guarded count shall not be started or shall be terminated.
b. A player-control foul cannot be committed.
c. A time-out request shall not be granted.
d. Out-of-bounds violation does not apply on the player involved in the
interrupted dribble.

Does team control continue during an interrupted dribble? I had an odd situation today in which a player was hurt and I was deciding whether or not to stop play, and at the same time, the horn went off due to an error by the timekeeper. The horn sounded just as a dribbler was losing control of his dribble, and he, and his opponent were "kind of" chasing the ball, and I say "kind of" because the horn confused them, at which point I put some air in my whistle. At that point, I checked the injured player and found that he was alright and ready to continue play immediately. Then I went to the table and asked why the horn sounded, which was a mistake by the timekeeper. Then my partner, and I, got together to figure out how to resume play. All I knew at the time was that there was an injured player, and that the ball was loose on the floor when I blew my whistle. He said that the ball was loose as a result of an interrupted dribble, so there was no team control, and suggested using the alternating possession arrow, which sounded reasonable to me, which is what we did, with no complaints from anybody in the gym. As I drove home after the game, I thought about what can, or cannot, happen during an interrupted dribble and I thought that a three second violation can be called which, to me, means that team control continues during an interrupted dribble, so then we should have given the ball back to the offensive team, and not used the alternating possession. Right? Help?