Clock Is Ticking For Manasquan To Get To Championship After Bad Call

MANASQUAN, NJ — The clock is ticking for the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) to overturn what it already admitted was an incorrect referee call in the Manasquan High School boys’ basketball state semifinals game, played Tuesday night against Camden High School.

On Wednesday, the NJSIAA acknowledged the call was wrong, and even apologized to Manasquan High School for the mistake.

But as of Friday morning, the NJSIAA still maintains the call cannot be reversed because instant replay is not used in high school basketball.

The championship game Manasquan would have gone to is Saturday. Manasquan filed a legal appeal asking to put Saturday's game on hold, and for a review of the referee call. However, late Thursday afternoon Ocean County Superior Court Judge Mark Troncone denied their appeal, saying it was not up to the courts to decide whether or not Saturday's game could be paused, the Asbury Park Press exclusively reported Thursday evening.

The Manasquan High School boys' basketball team is now pursuing its likely last and final option: Asking the NJ Department of Education to pause Saturday's game and review the call.

The lawyer who is representing Manasquan High School for free, Michael Gross of Belmar law firm Clark Law, said the hopes the DOE makes a decision Friday.

Even Gov. Murphy called it "a crushing way to lose a game," but said he has to defer to the NJSIAA.

What happened:

This was the NJSIAA Group 2 Semifinal Boys Basketball Game played Tuesday night between Manasquan High School and Camden High School: Near the end of the game, Manasquan was trailing by just one point and had the last shot — and it got in.

But it was determined by referees on scene that the shot came after the final buzzer, and Camden officially won.

However, many videos showed the shot was made in time.

On Friday morning, Monmouth County state Sen. Vin Gopal joined a growing chorus of lawmakers calling for NJSIAA to break with precedent and reverse the call.

"The fact is, there is video evidence that the ball was in the air before the buzzer went off," said Gopal Friday. "The original call that Manasquan won was the right one, and I encourage the NJSIAA to overturn their decision.”

Newark school superintendent Roger León told Eyewitness News he is fine if Saturday's game against his players is delayed. He called for a "full and fair decision," adding that the "teams deserve to know that adults who make mistakes can have them corrected."

Monmouth County Commissioner Director Tom Arnone also said the NJSIAA should reverse course.

"While I appreciate the transparency and responsibility that the NJSIAA has taken in acknowledging that the call was wrong, I believe that they should overturn the outcome of the game and declare Manasquan as the rightful winner," Arnone said Thursday. "Two teams of high school boys played their hearts out and left everything on the court during that game, but one team scored a game-winning basket before the final buzzer and that’s who deserves to be in the championship game. Everyone makes mistakes, but it is how we take responsibility for them and the actions we take to fix them that matters. Isn’t that what we want to teach our children?"

I genuinely hope that NJSIAA does the right thing and sends the Manasquan High School Boys Basketball Team to the finals.”

"The rules are very clear. Manasquan won that game," said Manasquan Mayor Michael Mangan Friday morning. "I call on all of the state officials with power to reverse the outcome of the game to do so immediately. They should show the student athletes, the communities, and everyone following this story that fairness still exists in the world."