Houston We Have A Problem!

[chseagle]

Originally Posted by Love2ref4Ever

High school boys varsity game ends (alledgedly) with the final score 86-88. Me and my partner are in the locker room changing when we hear a knock at the door. To our surprise it was the head coaches of bot teams with the official score book. Seems to be a error in the final score, both coaches agree that there's an error. Me and my partner observe the scorebook and we discovered the problem. The person who was keeping the book for the home team didn't add two points to the visiting team when he supposed to and this caused the visiting team to be down by two points. What do we do now? Me and my partner decided to make this right, we would put our uniforms back on, go back out to the gym and play one overtime period. Both coaches had no problem with this and after the end of the overtime we had a winner. What would you have done?

This situation is similar to 2.2.4 Situation C in the 2009-2010 Case Book (Page 7):

2.2.4 SITUATION C: Team B leads by a point with seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. A1 releases the ball on a try, but the noise level makes it difficult for the covering official (umpire) to hear the horn. The umpire signals a successful goal. The referee definitely hears the horn before A1 releases the ball, but does not realize the umpire counted the goal. The officials leave the visual confines of the playing area & are not aware of the controversy until the scorer comes to the officials’ dressing room.

RULING: Even though the referee could have canceled the score if the officials had conferred before leaving, once the officials leave the visual confines of the playing area, the final score is official and no change can be made. In situations such as this, it is imperative that officials communicate with each other & that they do not leave until any problem regarding scoring or timing has been resolved.

Rule 2-2-4 states (Page 14 of the 2009-2010 Rules Book):
The jurisdiction of the officials' is terminated & the final score has been approved when all officials leave the visual confines of the playing area.