What is going on here?
 

Was there a full moon or something everyone?

First that unusual scorers situation from out here in Southern California and now we have a Arizona playoff game ending with one team having six kids on the floor.Here's the article-
February 25, 2011 - 10:01PM
Controversy swirls as Mountain View slips by Hamilton
By Mark Heller, Tribune

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When the buzzer sounded, both Mountain View and Hamilton stormed the court. The Toros in celebration, the Huskies with proverbial smoke coming out of their ears.

In the end, No. 3 Mountain View survived and advanced to the 5A Division I girls basketball state semifinals with a 50-49 victory against the sixth-seeded Huskies on Friday night.

How the Toros and Huskies arrived at that destination, is a whole other story.

Hamilton trailed by as many as seven points in the third quarter, but were finally able to hit outside shots and it created a mad dash late in the fourth quarter.

In "stall" mode in the game's final minutes, MacKenzie Bush was fouled and hit one of two free throws with 6.2 seconds left to give the Toros a 50-49 lead.

Hamilton called timeout and set up a play that needed to go the length of the floor from under the Huskies basket. The Huskies sent two players to the corner on the opposite end of the floor, one person in-bounding the ball and two others near the in-bounds line.

Meanwhile, Mountain View inadvertently sent six players onto the floor, and the play began. Normally, that's a technical foul against Mountain View which would have resulted in a Hamilton free throw and possession of the ball.

But the whistle never blew, so while Hamilton pushed the ball down for its final shot that ultimately fell short, screaming and wild gesturing ensued.

The buzzer sounded and the officials left the floor, but not before Hamilton coach Jeff Kain and the entire Hamilton bench and bleachers vented in disgust. There is no instant replay or official monitors (only fans with camcorders), so there can be no replay.

Long after the game was over, the Huskies were burning about playing their season's final possession 5-on-6.

"That's the worst part of all this," said Kain, who will send in the tape to the Arizona Interscholastic Association. "Those kids who worked their butt off all season and to get back into the game, to fight and play so hard to come back, and don't get an opportunity to win because of that?"

Mountain View coach Henry Bribiescas said he didn't know there were six of his players on the court until after the final play had begun, and expressed sympathy toward Hamilton's disposition given the situation.

"We were just trying to play out the last six seconds," he said. "It was a really good game, what we expected a state tournament quarterfinal to be."

One way or the other, the ending will be remembered for a long time, and might have otherwise overshadowed an otherwise tense and evenly-matched quarterfinal.

It was 26-23 at halftime, as the Huskies forced Mountain View into a bevy of early turnovers yet had trouble converting those open opportunities on the other end.

The Toros significantly reduced their number of turnovers in the second half, as the backcourt and better ball movement outmanuvered Hamilton's pressure. The Toros also hit 13 of 15 free throws on the night compared to 4 of 7 for Hamilton.

"We needed that separation of two or three possessions, but we knew it wasn't over at that point," Bribiescas said.

"I think nerves got us too amped up," Kain said of his team's shooting struggles.

Mountain View's Arnecia Hawkins (19 points) scored the final five points of the second quarter to pull the Toros within three, then Mountain View scored the first 10 points after halftime to take a 33-26 lead two minutes into the third quarter.

The Huskies went four minutes without a point in the third and couldn't get shots to fall all night until the final five minutes of the fourth. Lauren Evans (16 points) and Cassidee Ranger (13 points) both hit three-pointers to pull Hamilton within 47-46.

Rene Coggins (14 points) and Hawkins both hit their free throws in the final minute, but Kyndall Adams hit a layup and was fouled with 9.6 seconds left. She converted the free throw to tie the game at 49-49.

That set up Bush's free throw and the believe-it-or-not finish.

"That was two teams who played a state quarterfinal the way it was meant to be played," Bribiescas said. "We feel fortunate."

No, it's just playoff time and the games are more important. I'm certain that these mistakes happen rather frequently. It is just that at this time of the season a big deal is made out of it. I recall a Big East game between G'town and Providence about five years ago in which this happened. Tie game, Providence TO, players return, Providence ball. Providence has six on the court and scores with about seven seconds left, G'town inbounds and goes the length of the floor 5 on 6 and scores to force OT. The referee team was suspended by the conference for the mistake.
What is the cause?--The officials are taking it for granted that everything is okay for the final play. They MUST be vigilant and count the players prior to putting the ball in play in such situations.
I'll remind my crew of this situation before we take the floor tonight for my final HS game of the season.

I made a couple of corrections to the author's article above in red.

The following is the NFHS Case Play ruling on the situation. Part b is what applies here. Nothing can be done. Too bad for the losing team.

SIX IN GAME
10.1.6 SITUATION: With Team A leading 51 to 50, a held ball is called. A6
properly reports and enters the game. Time is then called by Team A. The clock
shows two seconds remaining in the game. After play is resumed by a throw-in,
the officials: (a) recognize that A has six players competing, but cannot get the
clock stopped; or (b) do not notice Team A has six players on the court. Following
the throw-in, time expires. Team B now reports to the officials that Team A had
six players on the court. RULING: In (a), since one of the officials had knowledge
that Team A had six players participating simultaneously and this was detected
prior to time expiring, a technical foul is assessed against Team A. In (b), since it
was not recognized by either official, but was called to their attention after time
had expired, it is too late to assess any penalty.

Agreed. The plays early in the game aren't "as remembered" as the "missed violation" or "passing on light contact" near the end when the game is on the line. Everything that happens before that is forgotten. Those "game changers" are what folks remember. Oh, those darn refs!

I still remember the NCAA game where the Georgetown player was fouled all the way in the backcourt running down the sidelines with little to no time on the clock and sent to the line with the game on the line. Coulda, shoulda, woulda.....and as I recall he was the best free throw shooter in the school's history!

Well said.

I've always said that people most remember the first 3 minutes and the last 3 minutes. People remember how you set the tone of the game, and how you finish the game.

Good luck on your game Nevadaref,
Are you expecting a play-off assignment?