I am waiting on my V games to start and watching the end of the JVB game. I am standing on the corner of the endline, the gym is packed and loud. Team B is down 2 points with the ball. They hit a "3" with 12 seconds left to take a one point lead. Team A is bringing the ball up court, and when A2 gets the ball to midcourt, Coach A is frantically trying to call a TO. Neither partner is cognizant of this, and are too intent on watching only the game. Coach A, in an effort to get the attention of the Lead official 15 feet away, rushes down the sideline to the endline where the L is stationed. He is screaming for a TO.
You guessed it....**WHACK**. The rest is history. Team B makes both free throws and wins the game.
Let this be a lesson to younger officials. Always expect a time out to be requested in these situations. The only reason that coach A was on the court was to request a time out because the officials were too tunnel-visioned to recognize the initial request. Don't penalize a coach merely for being on the court. If he is coaching his kids and not in the way, let him do that. This was a travesty and a rare occasion where the officials determined the outcome of the game. Yes, I did talk to the JV crew about this, and hopefully they never make a similar mistake.
