High School team ‘robbed’ in basketball playoffs as refs call causes chaos
Coach Mike Rice - XPandemonium broke out at a high school basketball playoff game in New Jersey on Tuesday after referees overturned a thrilling buzzer-beater.
Manasquan High School was on the ropes against Camden High School in crunch time of their semifinal matchup.
Manasquan needed to go the length of the floor and get a basket trailing by one point with 5.8 seconds left to play. Griffin Linstra rebounded his teammate’s missed three point attempt in traffic and sank the final shot from under the basket.
The East Jersey high school’s bench swarmed Linstra in celebration, but it would soon be short-lived.
Did the referees rob Manasquan of semifinal win?
A spectator got a closeup of the referees as they deliberated the final play. After a brief exchange, the shot was overturned and Camden’s supporters stormed the court in celebration.
Delirium and controversy ensued following the questionable decision. Manasquan head coach Andrew Bilodeau let the referees have it after they stripped his team of a chance to advance to the New Jersey Group II Championship game.
Bilodeau told the New York Post: “The referee in the C position in the middle signaled ‘basket’s good,’ they huddled up and then 15 kids got screwed in front of 1,000 people.
“Print that. Print it five times. Those three guys huddled up and they screwed these kids in front of 1,000 people and that video will be on the internet for everyone to see.”
Camden were the benefactors of luck as videos and photos from the game showed time remaining on the clock after the ball left Linstra’s fingertips. Though, New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association rules do not permit reviews off of video or audio recordings.
Supporters voiced their opinion on X regarding the way things shook out:
Camden will advance to the Group II championship against Arts High School of Newark on Saturday.