Buzzer favored home team.... Strange Situation

[freddie_g2001]

Here is the situation: Working a 3A boys Varsity Rival Conference Game. Close game, very competitive, Ball gets taken in by the home team, Buzzer inadvertently sounded, Everyone stops for a second, then Team A-1 (Home) passes to A2 who took the ball to the basket. Defender was way late and hit A2 from behind and I called the foul and the ball went in. No problem with the foul and the basket. I went to the table to report my foul and asked the table why we had the buzzer and he said the clock has been doing that all season. Only after analyzing this in the Locker Room with my two partners did we discuss what happened. Of course Visitor Coach was very unhappy with the result as You and I would be if we were the coach.

I thought, I should have killed the play since everyone paused when the buzzer sounded. (inadvertantly) If Only I would have thought quicker and blew my whistle, this could have been avoided. If, If, If, but we just let them play.

Thoughts or suggestions Welcomed........Thanks for your input in advance.

[Adam]

This way the kids will learn to play to the whistle rather than the buzzer.

[JugglingReferee]

It almost makes you want to ask ahead of time if there are any known problems with the clock.

If issues were known ahead of time, communication could have been made to both teams to be clear that players should play through the horn and only the whistle will inform players that something happened. I would then always have a whistle at the end of quarters.

If you did have the presence of mind to sound the whistle when the horn sounded in your situation above, then all the power to you, imo. But letting it go as described is good, too. We can't be expected to "keep it in our mind" to blow the play dead if there is an IH on an errant device.

As they say, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me". Even if it was before a time where you and your P (Ps) could discuss the matter (such as a TO or quarter- or half-time), I wouldn't let the situation happen again: hammer on that whistle. In football, they say "no cheap fumbles" and I think in this case, the common sense thing is "no cheap plays" especially when a foul and 3-point play is involved.

But what's better is to ask why the horn went off in the first place. When you learn of this errant device, at that time inform both coaches, allow both teams to have a 10-second officials timeout so that the coaches can properly instruct their players, then continue with the game. This is where a good R will step and ensure that everyone is on the same page.

[just another ref]

Originally Posted by JugglingReferee

It almost makes you want to ask ahead of time if there are any known problems with the clock.

I routinely do that in pregame. Ask the home coach during pregame. Any special ground rules in this building? Clock/scoreboard issues? Overhangs? Dead spots?

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by freddie_g2001

Buzzer inadvertently sounded, Everyone stops for a second,

Kill it right there -- even if you don't recognize that's what to do for a second or two.

[JugglingReferee]

Originally Posted by bob jenkins

Kill it right there -- even if you don't recognize that's what to do for a second or two.

I like this suggestion.

I pictured in my mind that in the OP, during this 1- or 2- lapse by everyone, Team A passed and scored. And then even caught the official off guard! If the try was airborne, one would have to be a very good damage control official to kill the play (negating the basket) and give A a throw-in.

[jdw3018]

Originally Posted by bob jenkins

Kill it right there -- even if you don't recognize that's what to do for a second or two.

+1. In asking why there was a horn and finding out it was a common occurrence at that gym, it may then be appropriate to give a heads up to players and coaches that play should continue to the whistle.

Any time something odd happens off the court (buzzer, whistle or air horn in crowd, etc) and it causes most of the players to cease playing, even if only for a moment, I'm apt to stop play and restart.

[26 Year Gap]

Bob is right. I wonder if it happened again during the game.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by just another ref

Any special ground rules in this building? Clock/scoreboard issues? Overhangs? Dead spots?

If the ball rolls under the bleachers, it's a ground rule double.

[DesMoines]

Last night, GV. Small town in Iowa... which explains some of this.

As we were preparing to take the floor, the AD came in and told us that about half the town was without power. Luckily, there were two different feeds coming into the school and the gym did have power -- sort of. We started the game with only about 60% of the lights in the gym working (of 20, we had 6 on one end, 4 on the other) and only one scoreboard. We discussed it with everyone and they wanted to go, so we pre-gamed how to handle last shots, etc. and went to work.

With about 3 minutes to play in the game, the lights came back on, as did the other scoreboard... and the horn went off. Everybody freezes, but the ball was in the paint. Inappropriate advantage offense, because the defense stopped playing.

Thanks to this thread, I hit my whistle and blew it dead.

[Adam]

I have to ask, which schools? (PM me if you'd like.)

[SE Minnestoa Re]

I like to hit the whistle if everyone stops. It seems to be the fair thing to do.

[GoodwillRef]

Originally Posted by Snaqwells

This way the kids will learn to play to the whistle rather than the buzzer.

That is not reality...everyone stops when they hear the horn...even the officials working.

[GoodwillRef]

Originally Posted by just another ref

I routinely do that in pregame. Ask the home coach during pregame. Any special ground rules in this building? Clock/scoreboard issues? Overhangs? Dead spots?

That is great to ask the question but it doesn't change the situation and the "unfair" advantage gained by the home team.

[Welpe]

Originally Posted by GoodwillRef

That is not reality...everyone stops when they hear the horn...even the officials working.

Sometimes, and sometimes they don't. I've seen both things happen. Players are smarter sometimes than we realize.