Interesting conference

[Rich]

I got a call last week to fill in for a conference I'd never worked before -- small school conference, girls game. 82 miles away, probably the closest school in the conference (with one exception and they were the visiting team).

My contract came in the mail with a letter the commissioner (assignor) sends to all officials. In this, it was stressed that (1) Officials are expected to work just as hard in girls games as boys game and (2) The games were expected to be call tight -- the phrase "if you have to call 70 fouls, so be it" was part of the letter.

Now, I've never met a no call I didn't like, so I expected a bit on conflict perhaps. None. Visiting team ranked #5 in the state in their class demolished the home team 63-28. Only about 10 fouls total in the 1st half.

We made up for it when the subs came in -- 15 fouls in the THIRD QUARTER.

The game ended on a 50+ foot shot. By the winning team. Winning team had ball for throw-in in backcourt on the baseline with 4 seconds left. I heard the coach tell the player to hold the ball, so I ran around her towards our exit door on the other side of the court.

I was standing in front of the table when I realized it was a true shot and it went in, nothing but net. I never stopped officiating and my hand was up when she released the ball. I turned to the table with the touchdown signal and told them to count it 3 and kept going off the court.

Best part? We started the game 20 minutes early.