There has been plenty of talk about the strange ending to the 5A-I boys basketball semifinal game between Phoenix St. Mary’s and Chandler Hamilton.
As a brief recap, Hamilton was leading by four points with 16 seconds left and had the ball. Game officials ruled that Hamilton’s Zak Hambsch then threw the ball at St. Mary’s guard James Hollins after a timeout call by Hamilton. A technical foul was called, which gave St. Mary’s two free throws and possession.St. Mary’s ended up scoring five points (two free throws and a 3-point field goal) in 11 seconds to rally for a 58-57 win.
My view of the incident was blocked, but most people I talked to afterwards were surprised the call would be made in that situation. I did end up seeing the replay on YouTube, and it’s pretty clear that the Hamilton player did not chuck the ball at Hollins. In my opinion, it’s fair to say Hamilton got the short end of the stick on that one.
However, there’s not much that can be done after the fact. The call was at the referee’s discretion, and unless he immediately decided to change the call, it’s something that should stick. Giving officials the ability to change a call after a game is just too much leeway. It was an unfortunate call, but something that was handled correctly by the AIA.
Mr. Odegard, I agree with you that this was a judgement call at the referee’s discretion. However, there was no reason that the official standing in the immediate vicinty of the play could not have pulled his collegue to the side and discussed the call. I’ve seen officials in ALL sports overturn each other’s calls during one of these “mini-conferences.” This call could have been easily overturned on the court as many calls are. I believe that the AIA could have stepped up and at least have taken some accountability that it was a bad call instead of being so political about it. This state gets enough flack as it is with all the politics in high school sports and the AIA is just adding to that.