Sorting it out

Myranda Hill never imagined she'd be in the midst of such excitement Saturday and neither did I.

But our SLC TV timeout coordinator, whose real job is assistant Lady Demon soccer coach (see the previous blog entry), got a lot of air time as officials tried to sort out the activity in an altercation on court with 7:32 left in what turned out to be regulation of the Demons' 99-98 double overtime win over Nicholls.

She also had a front row seat as officals and scorers worked through a question about the score late in the second OT.

First, the most important fact: the final score is correct, and the score was correct on the board when the situation unfolded with the board showing the Demons ahead 98-96 with 34 seconds left.

Somehow, Nicholls got a point it shouldn't have gotten on the TV screens. The point was added, and you see it clear as day, just as Nicholls Anatoly Bose takes a pass and is about to unleash a 3-pointer with 1:24 to go. The score moves from 96-90 to 96-91, and then after the basket, 96-94 -- a point too many.

I can't tell you when the coliseum scoreboard got off course. I do know that with 48 seconds left, Bose drove for a layup and was fouled. It was a circus shot, one of the best I've ever seen anywhere, worthy of any ESPN Top 10 Plays of the Day. It went in. The referee did not signal to the scorer that the basket was good as he signaled the foul and the impending free throw try. The scorer didn't mark down the basket, accordingly, and the scoreboard didn't show it.

The stat crew realized this almost immediately, but after the free throw was made the ball was in play. The game couldn't be stopped until the next dead ball. That's when the elongated discussion unfolded, and we were able to show officials the play-by-play sheet that helped confirm the correct score. Meanwhile, Myranda called me over and I had to explain to the TV producer that despite what his scoreboard said, we had the accurate scoring on record and there wasn't going to be an extra point given to Nicholls to make the score 98-97.

As to the altercation: it happened after very aggressive foul by a Nicholls player chased Shamir Davis going in for a layup. Referees immediately ruled it intentional but at the same time Davis, feeling it was a dirty play (and it looked it, although TV replays I saw later left room for doubt), got up and challenged the defender. Players from both teams got involved in the confrontation. NO punches were thrown.

After coaches from both teams and the game officials did a marvelous job of keeping the altercation from escalating, the sitaution calmed as the referees tried to see if any ejections or technical fouls were warranted. They went to Myranda, who was at the replay monitor next to the game clock, and went to work reviewing the TV footage.

Game officials Gary Vaughn and Brent Sherrod did a masterful job of carefully looking at the tape, and rightfully assessed a conduct technical foul to Davis, who shouldn't have confronted the Nicholls defender, Chris Isles. It was a hard foul, it was intentional, and it may have been flagrant, although that's open to debate.

The referees also were correct in not penalizing anyone else. The players involved in the altercation were all in the game at the time. If a player leaves the bench and becomes involved in such a situation, he is ejected. That didn't happen.

Give both teams credit for gathering themselves and refocusing on the game, which turned out to be a classic.

Suffice to say, Myranda's pretty face got an unusual amount of TV time, and she had a lot of inside stories to share with friends!

Doug Ireland, SID