They might have been bought.
In New Jersey? By who. (I know college refs have fixed games before, and even back in the 50’s)
“They might have been bought.’
Sincerely doubt it. The officials couldn’t have known when the ball was going to be put in play after the previous basket, that the kid would go down the right side, toss up a wild shot from the sideline, have it bounce off the rim right to the rebounder who put it back up. The only one who could have known that is God.
I can’t answer for the officials as I wasn’t in on the conversation they had right after the buzzer. However, the rule coming from the federation, New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association, states once game officials leave the ‘visual confines of the playing court,’ the game is concluded, and the score is official.” The NJIAA, which does not use instant replay, went on to say that the “results could not then and cannot now be changed.”
So without the opportunity to replay the play, and the game officials leaving the court area, the game is concluded and cannot be challenged in this manner. But the outcry from the call is so blatantly aggressive, and there was a fan moving his hand violently around one of the officials while they had a difficult time leaving the court area, they may have felt they needed to leave the area for safety. Fans have attacked officials before and in a few cases have injured or even killed officials.
If they had the opportunity to see a replay, which is not allowed by the state federation, the call could have been reversed.
The only mistake they actually did was not going to the timer and asking for help as the timer can say what they saw and it might have had an effect on the call as the timer also deermines the clock or shot clock determination on a shot. But I think as the fans started closing in as they entered the floor the officials may have felt threatened and bailed.
wy60