Question on inbound play

[Quahogboy]

Hey all, this is my first post. I enjoy the site and have referred to it a few times the past couple of years.

I had a situation come up with my intramural girls team this morning that I need an opinion. My girls had just turned over the ball on the offensive end and turned to set up defense on our end. The other team was also going upcourt. The ref got the ball, tossed it to A1 out of bounds under the basket and then turned to jog up the court. A1 caught the ball, then as she was getting ready to throw it in to A2, dropped the ball which rolled off her leg then foot then rolled in bounds. A1 then crossed completely over the endline inbounds with both feet, picked up the ball, and threw it to A2 with both feet completely in bounds. I then called to the ref that she was inbounds and threw the ball to A2. The next dead ball he came to tell me that he didn't see the play and therefore couldn't make a call. I mentioned that he should have been watching the play and at the least should have been counting 5 seconds for the inbound but that I understood he missed it and to forget about it.

He told the other ref at the end of the quarter who then came up to explain to me that I was incorrect and that A1 was allowed to touch the line with her foot on the throw in. I kept trying to explain that A1 lost the ball, crossed completely inbounds and then threw the ball to her teammate while inbounds. All he told me was that had they seen it, they would have made A1 get back out of bounds to redo it. I think that if they had seen it that it would be a violation since A1 was the first person to touch the ball inbounds and she also crossed over the endline. On top of this, since she had a spot, she shouldn't have been able to move from there anyway. Can someone explain this better for me so I know what to say in the future? It actually happened to us later in the game where my player slapped the ball to initiate the play on the throw in and it slipped and rolled inbounds. She didn't chase it but the opposing side got it and ran the other way with it.

Thanks in advance.
Chris