Out-of-Bounds Play and Dealing with Refs

[Lew Riley]

I coach a 5th/6th grade girls basketball team and a 7th/8th grade girls team. We start our playoffs today--Saturday. One loss and we are remanded to the Consolation Bracket.

You folks have been so helpful to me that I wish I'd discovered this site eons ago. In any case, I have two questions: the first an easy objective one, and the second a not-so-easy (I don't think) subjective question.

1) Can an inbounder under her own basket run behind the baseline from Point A to Point B at any time, or can she do so only after the opposing team makes a basket?

2) I have three very tall girls on my 5th/6th grade team. One in fact is probably the best 11-year-old softball pitcher in America, but she just decided to play basketball this year--and she's just not tall; she obviously has game.
My other two big girls are good, too. But here's the problem. The big girls get myriad fouls called against them for barely touching an opponent, while they get hammered right and left and rarely get a foul shot.

In fact, my softball whiz has shot only four shots this 10-game season. I realize the fact that the girls are tall might generate some sympathy for the smaller opposition players, but the tall girls are just as emotional as the smaller ones, and they aren't learning in this situation. In fact, the mother of the pitcher asked one of the refs after the last regular-season game why her daughter could continually be hacked and pushed and pulled and hammered and never get a call. After some querying, the ref said, "We do give preference to the shorter players."

Is there anything I can do--perhaps discuss the situation before the game. Or should I just grin and bear it. WE have a Zero Tolerance rule in our leagues, which precludes referee-baiting of any kind. Not that I would!

Thanks again for all your positive feedback.