New Jersey state semifinal HSBB game ends in wild controversy

A semifinal game in New Jersey’s state high school basketball tournament ended in controversy on Tuesday when an apparently clean buzzer-beater was waived off.

Manasquan and Camden were locked in a 45-45 tie with 5.8 seconds remaining. Camden’s Alijah Curry hit a free throw to give his team the lead, setting up a highly debatable finish.

Manasquan’s Rey Weinseimer received the inbounds pass and quickly dribbled the ball up the court. With three seconds remaining, he attempted a running jumper, which missed. His teammate, Griffin Linstra, secured the rebound and put it back for the apparent game-winner at the buzzer, triggering a wild reaction.

Only, the ruling was later overturned. The officials determined that Linstra’s shot was late and therefore, Camden won 46-45.

Given the background noise in the gym, it can be a little hard to determine when the final horn blew. But turning the volume up, it appears as though the buzzer did not sound until the putback shot was parallel with the backboard. Additionally, using a stopwatch from the time Weinseimer first touched the inbounds pass to when Lanstra released his shot, it appears as though only 5.4-5.5 seconds ticked off of the clock.

When dealing with tenths and even hundredths of seconds makes everything close, it does appear as though Manasquan was robbed here. And people were quick to offer their support toward the Warriors.

As frustrating as they are, bad calls do happen. And particularly given that there’s no review process in high school basketball, that is an inherent risk. The problem here is that this didn’t start as a bad call. It was initially ruled good — by the official who should have made the call. It was later overturned after arguments from the Camden sideline.

No, unfortunately. That’s it. Just brutal, brutal call. And how it played out with the officials calling it good, walking off, having Camden coaches grab the officials to protest, then OVERTURNING the call. Oof.

— Dan Torsiello (@CoachTorsiello) March 6, 2024

That’s my problem. There are procedures for these things that weren’t followe. Whether it’s opening night or a state final, it should play out the same. The official who initially signaled it good is the official who has that call on the rotation.

— Dan Torsiello (@CoachTorsiello) March 6, 2024

Getting a buzzer-beating waived off was already going to make Manasquan feel cheated. The process in which it happened makes it much worse.

[Brandon Gould on Twitter/X, Dan Torsiello on Twitter/X]