Is this "over"-officiating?

[Adam]

While I agree you wouldn't normally be there (tough to disagree with the obvious, even for a skeptic like me), and that a T might not be appropriate.

I think what you did do is appropriate. Summer league 8th grade ball, I think we get some extra lattitude to deal with these things.

If you ignore it, it shows both kids that no one is watching.

I think of the cutoff as the point at which the next two teams start warming up and the clock is counting down (in this case 5:00.) It's somewhat arbitrary, but it makes sense to me. In this case, I think the situation was prior to this cutoff, but a T is at least debatable.

I would, however, add that the score isn't relevant, I don't think, to whether you should call this T. The benefits to calling it go beyond the freethrows; especially in leagues that track them and suspend accordingly.