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Coach RED HOT over buzzer-beater reversal: ’15 kids got screwed in front of 1,000 people. Print that.’

March 6, 2024 | | Print Article

Three referees at a New Jersey high school boys basketball playoff game stunningly overturned a game-winning buzzer-beater when there appeared to be time left on the clock.

“Down by one to Camden High School with a shade under six seconds left in the state semifinals, Manasquan High School seemingly hit what appeared to be a game-winning shot with a put-back off the glass, setting off a wild celebration in Bayville on Tuesday night,” the New York Post reported.

“But not long after, the referees reversed the call and said the bucket actually came after the final buzzer, and instead, Camden, the state’s No. 2-ranked team on Max Preps, had held on for the 46-45 win in the Group 2 semis,” the outlet added.

Footage seems to indicate that everyone except the refs at the game believed that Manasquan High School legitimately made the winning shot and beat the clock. The decision set social media on fire with calls for the decision to be reversed and the refs fired over it.

“The wild sequence began when Alijah Curry of Camden sunk a free-throw with 5.8 ticks left on the clock to put Camden up by one point,” the New York Post noted.

“Manasquan quickly inbounded the ball and rushed up the court, and after a missed shot from long range, Griffin Linstra rebounded the ball right under the hoop and put it in as it appeared the buzzer sounded, and officials initially counted the basket,” the media outlet wrote.

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After what was seen as the winning shot, fans flooded the court and went wild. The team began celebrating as the refs confabbed over the basket. Somehow, they came to the conclusion that the shot took place after the buzzer when it appeared to everyone that it hadn’t.

“Head coach Andrew Bilodeau said after the game that he felt there should have actually been time added after they hit the shot, about .6 seconds worth,” the New York Post said.

Video footage shows that the clock still had time on it when Linstra made the final basket.

“They reversed the call,” Bilodeau told the Asbury Park Press after the game. “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.”

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The opposing team coaches had entirely different viewpoints concerning the end of the game.

Camden coach Maalik Wayns chalked it up to luck in an interview with NJ.com, “We got one. Sometimes a little bit of luck and hard work is on your side.”

Bilodeau certainly didn’t see it that way and felt his team should be the one advancing to the state final.

“These guys beat Camden’s ass in front of everyone in this gym and everyone on TV,” he stated, according to the Shore Sports Network. “[Camden is] a heck of a team — well-coached, tough, defensive-minded — but we outplayed them tonight and everybody saw it.”

Former Rutgers and Robert Morris basketball coach Mike Rice slammed the call on X along with incensed fans.

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“The trail ref had it correct. I really hope they suspend the ref that decided to waive it off,” he wrote.”Manasquan got robbed!!!”

The consensus was that Manasquan High School got screwed in the ruling.

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Coach Anthony Melesurgo of Bound Brook High School blasted the call, “Manasquan losses a chance to go to a state [trophy] because no1 can check the thousands of phones, computers, and other devices in the gym. It’s 2024! Get it Right!”

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