Free throw Situation

[Nevadaref]

Billy,
Let me ask you this?
During a normal FT attempt, A1 is preparing to shoot, while his teammate A2 in a marked lane space is clapping his hands. A1 attempts the FT and misses. Do you have a distraction call?
Answer: Of course not. Distraction must be by an opponent. Why? Because the NFHS doesn’t want a team member to be unfairly distracted. If one of his own does something silly, then that is that team’s own issue.

Now let’s look what you just asked.
B1 is shooting the first FT of two when a cheerleader from Team B comes out onto the court and causes a distracting situation. Does B1 get a replacement FT? Of course not. Again this is not an opponent, so distraction is not a possible call.
Now should this be a technical foul? Did the action unfairly impact the game? While we could assess a technical foul and award Team A two FTs for the infringement of entering the court at an unpermitted time, that would be overly harsh because the team which would receive the benefit of the 2 FTs didn’t lose out on anything by the transgression. Therefore, it would be appropriate to have the cheerleader removed from the court and allow game administration to counsel her on when she is allowed to be out there and when not.
In short, if Team A wasn’t harmed in any way by the cheerleader’s transgression, then they have no real need for a remedy.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Nevadaref

During a normal FT attempt, A1 is preparing to shoot, while his teammate A2 in a marked lane space is clapping his hands. A1 attempts the FT and misses. Do you have a distraction call?

No, because I consider A2 to be a teammate and not an opponent. I consider cheerleaders to be neither teammates nor are they opponents, they're fans (with rare exceptions), and this situation is not a "normal" distracted (hindered) free thrower situation "specifically covered in the rules".