NFHS: Guarding and Situations

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

The 2026-27 high school basketball season is just around the corner and I thought I would put together Situations for the Guarding (NFHS R4-S23) and Screening (R4-S40) Rules. These Situations are meant to make everyone THINK AND STUDY the Rules themselves.

Given: Team A is the Offensive Team and Team B is the Defensive Team when there is Team Control; a) neither Team are in the Bonus; b) Team A is in the Bonus; c) Team B is in the Bonus; and d) both Teams are in the Bonus. Give Rulings for a, b, c, and d.

Situation 1: The Ball is Live and there is no Team Control.

A1 and B1 are running at full speed down the Court along parallel Paths just three feet apart; A1’s Path is to the right of B1’s Path and A1 is: A) more than two strides ahead of B1 and B) less than two strides ahead of B1.

A1 turns slightly to his/her left and steps into B1’s Path, B1 cannot stop and makes Contact with A1, and both Players go to the Floor. RULING: What say you?


Situation 2: The Ball is Live and Team A has Control of the Ball but there is no Player Control of the Ball.

A1 and B1 are running at full speed down the Court along parallel Paths just three feet apart; A1’s Path is to the right of B1’s Path and A1 is: A) more than two strides ahead of B1 and B) less than two strides ahead of B1.

A1 turns slightly to his/her left and steps into B1’s Path, B1 cannot stop and makes Contact with A1, and both Players go to the Floor. RULING: What say you?


Situation 3: The Ball is Live and A3 has Player Control of the Ball.

A1 and B1 are running at full speed down the Court along parallel Paths just three feet apart; A1’s Path is to the right of B1’s Path and A1 is: A) more than two strides ahead of B1 and B) less than two strides ahead of B1.

A1 turns slightly to his/her left and steps into B1’s Path, B1 cannot stop and makes Contact with A1, and both Players go to the Floor. RULING: What say you?


Situation 4: The Ball is Live and there is no Team Control.

A1 and B1 are running at full speed down the Court along parallel Paths just three feet apart; A1’s Path is to the right of B1’s Path and B1 is: A) more than two strides ahead of A1 and B) less than two strides ahead of A1.

B1 turns slightly to his/her right and steps into A1’s Path, A1 cannot stop and makes Contact with B1, and both Players go to the Floor. RULING: What say you?


Situation 5: The Ball is Live and Team A has Control of the Ball but there is no Player Control of the Ball.

A1 and B1 are running at full speed down the Court along parallel Paths just three feet apart; A1’s Path is to the right of B1’s Path and B1 is: A) more than two strides ahead of A1 and B) less than two strides ahead of A1.

B1 turns slightly to his/her right and steps into A1’s Path, A1 cannot stop and makes Contact with B1, and both Players go to the Floor. RULING: What say you?


Situation 6: The Ball is Live and A3 has Player Control of the Ball.

A1 and B1 are running at full speed down the Court along parallel Paths just three feet apart; A1’s Path is to the right of B1’s Path and B1 is: A) more than two strides ahead of A1 and B) less than two strides ahead of A1.

A1 turns slightly to his/her right and steps into A1’s Path, A1 cannot stop and makes Contact with B1, and both Players go to the Floor. RULING: What say you?


Situation 7: The Ball is Live and A1 has Player Control of the Ball.

A1 and B1 are running at full speed down the Court along parallel Paths just three feet apart; A1’s Path is to the right of B1’s Path and A1 is Dribbling the Ball and is: A) more than two strides ahead of B1 and B) less than two strides ahead of B1.

A1 turns slightly to his/her left and steps into B1’s Path, B1 cannot stop and makes Contact with A1, and both Players go to the Floor. RULING: What say you?


Situation 8: The Ball is Live and A1 has Player Control of the Ball.

A1 and B1 are running at full speed down the Court along parallel Paths just three feet apart; A1’s Path is to the right of B1’s Path and B1 is: A) more than two strides ahead of A1 and B) less than two strides ahead of A1.

B1 turns slightly to his/her right and steps into A1’s Path, A1 cannot stop and makes Contact with B1, and both Players go to the Floor. RULING: What say you?

MTD, Sr.

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Gee whiz people! I posted these Situations to spark some discussion. It takes less that seven minutes to read through the Situations and to pick one or two that spark a discussion because there are one or two, in my humble opinion, that are not as straight forward as one would think, in fact it is my opinion that their Ruling is 100% counter-intuitive to what one would think would be the correct Ruling.

MTD, Sr.

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.

Gee whiz people! I posted these Situations to spark some discussion. It takes less that seven minutes to read through the Situations and to pick one or two that spark a discussion because there are one or two, in my humble opinion, that are not as straight forward as one would think, in fact it is my opinion that their Ruling is 100% counter-intuitive to what one would think would be the correct Ruling.

MTD, Sr.

Well, I did find this one (the bolded part) confusing:

Situation 6: The Ball is Live and A3 has Player Control of the Ball.

A1 and B1 are running at full speed down the Court along parallel Paths just three feet apart; A1’s Path is to the right of B1’s Path and B1 is: A) more than two strides ahead of A1 and B) less than two strides ahead of A1.

A1 turns slightly to his/her right and steps into A1’s Path, A1 cannot stop and makes Contact with B1, and both Players go to the Floor. RULING: What say you?

Seriously, you are looking for 64 answers to plays. Maybe just post the one or two you think are counter-intuitive.