Time out or not?

[justsumguy3]

Saturday afternoon, this was the cherry on the sundae of one of 'those kind of games'

Boys varsity game, tied at 41, 2 mins to go in the 4th. I'm at T and A1 is trapped in the front corner of his offensive end, outside the 3-pt line opposite the benches. He jumps in an attempt to pass the ball and the instant the ball is released (in my opinion), A coach yells timeout.

Well, we all know what happens. B1, who was in A1's face, so the ball traveled about 1 ft in between them, intercepts and is coming down with the ball as L blows the whistle and signals time-out for A.

Gym erupts and my partner says during the time-out that 'he definitely still had the ball when the coach asked'.

I'm 50/50 on whether he did or not and I will let him live or die with the call. Has anyone ever immediately talked a partner out of a timeout in a situation like this? If the whistle blows while ball not in player control, it's still going back to A for inadvertent whistle, right?

What mechanics are used by your board on this or what suggestions can you offer? C was closest to timeout call by the coach, but couldn't determine possession, ball was in my primary & L had ball near him and heard coach request it. I'd like to use this in an upcoming board meeting to discuss, but want to hear your opinions first.