It was too bad and too sad to be comical.
I mean, how do officials lose track of the score in a state tournament game?
It’s a legitimate question.
The problem is, nobody ever offered a legitimate answer.
The complication originated in the second quarter of a Class AAAA girls basketball quarterfinal game Wednesday morning between Spring Valley and Huntington here in the Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center. It then came to light early in the third quarter.
It seemed the 25-22 score in Spring Valley’s favor was incorrect. It should have been 25-23, because Huntington’s Ella Giles had made a free throw that, apparently, wasn’t counted.
How did that happen?
That’s when the conundrum began.
“The truth is, they were asleep,” veteran Highlanders coach Lonnie Lucas said, referring to the officiating crew. “I said, ‘We went in at halftime [down] 16-22, correct? [The officials] said, ‘I don’t know. The [official scorebook] says 15 to 22.’
“I brought the stat sheet and I said, ‘Here is what I am seeing. And the scoreboard said the same thing.’”
In both cases, the score was 22-16, in favor of Spring Valley.
“But, anyway, I might have felt a little bit strong if we had lost,” Lucas said. “But that one point was a big point. There was no explanation other than, ‘We don’t go by the scoreboard and we don’t go by the [stat] paper. We go by this book.’
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“And I said, ‘Well, then, don’t ever sleep on the book.’ I jumped up and said, ‘Gah.’ And he said, well, ‘15,’ and I said, ‘I know what you are saying. On the math it’s OK, but you started [the second half] on 16.’
“He said, ‘What?’ And I said, halftime was 16-22. The coaches know what the score is. And I felt bad for him and said, ‘OK, I understand your point. But I don’t understand [the officials’] point.’
“I went back and got my sheet and said, ‘Here is what you gave me at halftime.’ He made a mistake, but he should correct it. Our book had it, [Spring Valley’s book] had it ...”
It should have fallen into the category of “correctable errors.”
“It should have been, because [Timberwolves coach] Bo [Miller’s] team wasn’t trying to cheat us,” Lucas said. “He had it. He came up to me and said, ‘Hey, coach, the score is not right.’
“I don’t know. A referee can’t correct it.”
So, everybody’s book was right except the official book, right?
“Yeah,” Lucas said. “Just look at the stat sheet. Are you getting paid or not getting paid?”
This is what happens when a state with too few athletes and too few registered officials tries to play in four classes when it should downsize to two.
Want a solution?
There it is.
