[Amesman]

Got a hold of the reporter who wrote the article in question and it cleared up a lot. I'll post his e-mails below.

But overall, it sounds like our striped brethren nailed it (though I told the reporter I'd get full confirmation here -- sounds like he's sharp and willing to learn) and an inattentive clock operator needs a talkin'-to.

From the reporter:

"TI inbounded the ball under the basket and the kid threw the ball toward mid-court. Two or three players on each side jumped for the ball and I believe several kids touched it. The Hanrahan kid looked like he might have outjumped everybody for ball, but the horn sounded I believe before he had possession. LaLonde [his coach] thought otherwise.

"But the only way to be sure is if there was a replay, which of course there wasn’t. I was not aware of the rule that a clock malfunction was the same as an inadvertent whistle, but I bowed to the officials who both are among the best in our area. On the surface, it didn’t seem fair for Thousand Islands not to get the ball back. But If it’s a rule, it’s a rule. The fact that TI allowed the South Jeff kid to make a lay-up at the end was probably overlooked.

"If you have any input I’d appreciate a note back.

"And, yes, it was difficult to describe all that happened in those final frantic seconds. And as you said, it was a difficult game to officiate because both teams were going to the basket hard. But the officiating had nothing to do with the outcome.

"Here’s what I was told about the horn.

"There was a timeout with three seconds left. The clock operator set the automatic timer for the timeout, but then forgot to turn it off before the timeout was over. Thus, the timeout horn went off when the ball was in the air. The TI fans booed the officials for that call. They should have gone after their own clock man.

"It’s just a good thing this didn’t happen at South Jefferson."