WATCH: NJ High School Basketball Team Gets Robbed in Playoffs When Refs Inexplicably Wave Off Buzzer Beater
A blatant error by referees Tuesday night cost one New Jersey high school boys basketball team a trip to the championship game.
Manasquan High School trailed trailed Camden 46-45 with around five seconds left in the Group 2 semifinal. After a teammate failed to convert on a go-ahead shot attempt, Griffin Linstra caught the rebound and put the ball in before the buzzer. Linstra and the rest of the Manasquan team jumped around in celebration.
Just seconds later, however, the referees gathered to make a final ruling. They determined Linstra did not let go of the ball before the buzzer — meaning the basketball didn’t count. Suddenly, it was Camden that was celebrating.
.@notthefakeSVP maybe do the “worst” things you saw today on @SportsCenter tonight? pic.twitter.com/HHFpQAc7sS
— Brian Petruzzelli (@brianpetro4) March 6, 2024
Additional angles made it clear Linstra shot the ball several tenths of a second before the buzzer. The shot should have counted, but referees ruled otherwise and gave Camden the win.
From all video accounts I’ve seen, that basket should have counted and Manasquan should have beaten No. 3 Camden 47-46 #njhoops pic.twitter.com/3tvT6uasRj
— Brandon Gould (@BrandonGouldHS) March 6, 2024
“They reversed the call,” Manasquan coach Andrew Bilodeau said in a report from Shore Sports Network. “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.”
Manasquan filed an appeal with the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association shortly after the game. The NJSIAA denied the appeal the same night.
