Elbows

[RKBUmp]

Never reffed a basketball game in my life, so dont know all the ins and outs of the rules, but would like to get some clarification on elbows.

Son plays on an NYS 12-13 basketball team. They played a team yesterday that had 2 very large kids for the age, probably at least 6', one weighed I would guess 165, the other 180 or so. We have 1 kid that is maybe 5' 10", the others are all around 5'5" to 5'7".

The bigger and heavier of the players on the other team no one could handle, he would just use his size and weight to force people around. When he would get a rebound, he would immediately pull the ball into the middle of his chest, stick his elbows straight out and then spin. 4 of our players took elbows in the face, 2 in the cheek, one in the mouth and another in the nose. These hits were hard enough that 3 of the players ended up on thier backs, and the one that got hit in the nose had a bloody nose.

It was a kid reffing the game, and at the half our coach went and talked to him about the player throwing elbows. According to the official, if he had been flinging his elbows, it would be one thing, but since he was holding them stationary and just spinning his body it was legal.

Thoughts, legal or illegal?