I was working the clock at a CYO (NHFS Rules) game two weeks ago and ran into this situation: Two man, second man arrives 1 minutes into game (no parking in area). Late official calls foul, two shots for visiting team, has shooter take shot at wrong basket, shot made. Scorer's table gets officials' attention, tells them they're shooting at wrong basket. Ref tells scorer to count basket, administers second shot at correct basket. I tell him that I think first shot shouldn't be counted (Rule 2). He says no. Other ref doesn't get involved in discussion. Game goes on, ends in tie, home team loses in overtime.

Later, I go over the NFHS rule book, re-read 2-10. It seems to me ref was incorrect. Run into this ref this past Sunday, ask him about it after the game, also get a more senior ref involved in discussion. They seem unsure of the correct resolution for this situation, but state that ref ruled correctly. Senior ref promises to at least check rule book (not a bad thing to carry with you in your bag).

Was ref correct, or should first free throw been re-shot at correct basket? By the way, in 37 years of playing, coaching, reffing, scoring, timekeeping, spectating, I have never seen this happen before.

NF rule 2.10.4 says it doesn't count and is correctable if noticed as stated in 2.10.2 and 2.10.3.

That seems stupid, why punish the player for the referee's mistake. Clearly that is correctable, give the player the point and have him shoot second one at correct bucket. How can you possibly justify taking away a point due to a referee error? That just makes no sense.

Whether it makes sense to you or not, that's exactly what 2.10 tells us must happen by rule.

WHAT!!!!!! A "stupid" NF rule??????? What a concept! If I decided to ignore all the rules I thought were stupid, my pregame would last a couple of hours just to go over the changes. :p

If, however, the teams had been lined up wrong at the beginning of the game, which takes precedent - 4-5-4 or 2-10-1-d?

So...if the teams are permitted to go the wrong direction to start the game, then a foul shot is given at the CORRECT basket? Might be a good time to get them going the right direction and call the free throw good ;)

it was a question on the 2002-2003 fed exam

Thanks for your responses. For those who think the made free throw should count, the question is "For which team?" If you make a field goal in the wrong basket, it counts for the other team. Why would a free throw be different? I think this is why the rule is written the way it is. The rule should be more specific on how the error is to be corrected, to avoid any confusion.

The problem I find with the NFHS rule book is that there are too many cross references for rare situations. The simplified rule book is clearer, but doesn't cover these rarer situations.

The USGA puts its rule book in a hypertext format on their web site, with appropriate case book rulings shown in a frame beneath the rule, and penalties listed for each infraction. If NFHS were to do this it would be easier for the average person to understand the rules, and might make our jobs easier.

The rule is completely clear about how the error is corrected. If discovered soon enough, the erred FT doesn't count, a FT is awarded at the proper end, and we either play on from there or resume at point of interruption depending on whether there was a change of possession between error and discovery.

If not discovered soon enough, the erred FT counts for the team that shot it.

The NCAA has its rulebook downloadable from its web site, and college fans, coaches, and players don't know the rules any better because of it. I doubt that making the NF rules publically available would help much either.

USGA
 

I can believe the USGA puts information at the bottom of their rules book because for anyone who plays golf there is nothing more complicated than the rules of golf.

Wow, you actually play by the rules when you golf?? ;)