Reversed the 18 Decision

[CMHCoachNRef]

Originally Posted by kzreffin

How do they come to the number of FTs in that ruling?

Bella Vista was awarded six total free throws for:
2 Free Throws for the intentional foul,
2 Free Throws for the initial technical foul (the player continued to hold on to the rebounder after the whistle),
2 Free Throws for the second technical foul (the player twisted the player to the ground well after the whistle had been blowing).

Rio was to have been awarded two free throws for:
2 Free Throws for having FEWER bench personnel leave the bench area during the fight than Bella Vista had (1 coach vs. 7 players and 2 coaches). Per NFHS rules, no more than 2 FTs are awarded during such situations regardless of the number of bench personnel from each team -- 0 FTs if the number of bench personnel is the same.

Had the game been resumed, the score would have been about 61 - 53 (it was 56 - 51 at the start of the fouling, Bella Vista's players made 5 of six FTs and Rio's shooter made 17 of 18 FTs -- I think he made the first two) with 12.3 seconds remaining. Even though Rio likely would have gotten the ball at the Division Line since the bench technical would have been last in the sequence, the score difference was 8 points. I do not know the time out situation, but if Rio was out of time outs, the game would have been effectively over. Let's assume that Rio would have scored in approximately 1 second on the inbound pass. It would have reasonably taken Bella Vista at least 1.5 seconds to find the ball before the 5 second count would have started. This would have left 5.8 seconds left when the 5 second violation occurred. Assume an additional 1.5 seconds for the inbound pass followed by the time for the 3 point shot to get to the basket. Assume another 1.5 seconds to find the ball and their would be 2.8 seconds remaining. No need for Bella Vista to inbound the ball having an additional 5 seconds to inbound the ball.

Even with time outs, the likelihood that a team could come from 8 points down in 12.3 seconds is so unlikely that it does not make sense to continue the game. Also, I do not know the particular rules in place for such protests. It is possible that the committee viewed the situation above and deemed going forward to be without merit.