Free throw Situation

[BryanV21]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

Sigh, one cannot “manage” a situation which has unfairly impacted one team nor can one make up a way of addressing it when a remedy is clearly provided for in the rules. (Note to BillyMac: this is why 2-3 is not applicable here.)



Cheerleaders are not bench personnel. They are team supporters and it is crystal clear which team they represent. They are spectators with the special privilege of entering the court at specified times. If the do something which unfairly impacts the game, then the NFHS rules provide a remedy. As I’ve already stated the proper remedy is a technical foul and BillyMac has now posted two play rulings supporting that. You will find nothing stating to issue a replacement FT. Why? Because that’s not how the rules deal with misbehaving spectators.



One of the casebook rulings demonstrates that game management can be informed to put a stop to the improper behavior, and that can be done without the penalty of a technical foul, if no negative impact to the game has occurred. However, if fairness has been infringed, then the only way to restore that balance is to charge the technical foul.



So if the band is playing while the opposing team has the ball, play can be halted and the illegal behavior can be stopped without any serious injustice having been suffered, but if a team loses a FT opportunity or a wide-open layup near the end of a quarter because cheerleaders run out onto the floor, you need to ask yourself would it be fair to just have game administration tell them to not do that again? When an opportunity has unfairly been lost, the technical foul is the proper manner to restore the balance.

The term "bench personnel" could absolutely include cheerleaders (see the pic of the rulebook app below).

And I wasn't saying you were wrong, but for game management purposes (something that is emphasized plenty in those interpretations/cases) re-administering the free throw is a fine option. Maybe it's not crystal clear in the book, but support for that can certainly be found.

And how about we be a tad more respectful?

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[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by BryanV21

The term "bench personnel" could absolutely include cheerleaders (see the pic of the rulebook app below).

And I wasn't saying you were wrong, but for game management purposes (something that is emphasized plenty in those interpretations/cases) re-administering the free throw is a fine option. Maybe it's not crystal clear in the book, but support for that can certainly be found.

And how about we be a tad more respectful?

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Wow! Sometimes what you post seems to come from a new official, but you have to have at least ten years of experience. Sometimes you fail to grasp the most basic elements of a situation.

So I’ll write this out for you clearly and as respectfully as possible.
1. Bench personnel are those who are permitted to be in the team bench area for the duration of the game. If the bench area doesn’t have enough space, then they will be located as close as possible to the team bench, such as in the first row of the stands.
2. While members of the school cheer squad and band are clearly affiliated with the school and team, they are not part of the team. Have you ever seen the cheerleaders or a trumpet player go into the team huddle during a time-out? Have you ever seen the cheer squad sit in the team bench area during the game? I haven’t. Let’s be realistic. It’s not going to happen.
3. You keep insisting that awarding a replacement FT is a fine option in this scenario. That is frustrating to me because it is completely wrong. Here’s why. As officials we have to administer the rules as written. What you are calling game management, I call making up your own ruling. The NFHS has admonished officials against personal interpretations on several occasions.
There are only two situations in which a replacement FT can be awarded: a) a player of the non-shooting team violates, b) a member of the opposing team commits distraction. I am quite firm in stating that a cheerleader running out onto the court fits neither of those cases. You seem to contend that the cheerleader is a member of the opposing team. I don’t believe that you will find much agreement with you on that. I’ll also point you to NFHS rule 1-20 in which spirit participants are classified as non-playing personnel and their location is clearly listed.

4. So how do we properly administer the rules for this situation? Is there something in the book or do we need to invoke the referee’s elastic clause (2-3)?
We can only invoke 2-3 when the rules do not cover a situation and we have NFHS rule 2-8-1 Note which contains “The officials may rule fouls on either team if its supporters act in such a way as to interfere with the proper conduct of the game.” Obviously, such a foul would be a technical foul by definition because the offender is a non-player and only players may commit personal fouls. Do we have any other rule for penalizing spectators or people who aren’t part of either team? Can the officials call violations on them? Nope, I don’t find that anywhere. So we only have two choices: we can halt play and have game administration deal with the improper behavior or we can call a technical foul. We have to use our judgment as to when each is appropriate. What we cannot do is completely make up another remedy on our own and impose that, such as awarding a replacement FT.

Let me pose a scenario for you. Team B is trailing by one point with under five seconds remaining and has the ball in its backcourt. B3 beats his defender and receives a long pass so that he now has a clear path for an easy layup. Cheerleader A steps onto the court and kicks the ball away just as B3 was finishing his final dribble before attempting a try. There is two seconds remaining on the clock when the cheerleader contacts the ball.
If the covering official decides to award Team B two points for the easy basket which B3 was about to score, would you support that?
If the covering official charges a team technical foul after which Team B only makes one FT and then loses in OT, would you believe that a fair ruling was not made?