The two officials who worked the Walbrook-Lake Clifton boys basketball game last Friday, a game that included a bench-clearing fight but no player ejections, have been reprimanded by the executive board of the International Association of Approved Basketball Officials, Board No. 290.
Tom McCann, the referee and lead official, has been suspended pending an appeal, and George Pinchback, the umpire, has been given a verbal reprimand and placed on six month's probation.
Late in the first half of the showdown between No. 1 Lake Clifton and No. 3 Walbrook, Lakers standout Shawnta Rogers and the Warriors' Marvin Matthews got into a fight that led to a bench-clearing brawl that caused the game to be delayed nearly 30 minutes.
According to Buck Ward, the rules interpreter for Board No. 290, which officiates boys games in Baltimore City, both players should have been ejected for the remainder of the game and a technical foul should have been assessed each player for intentional or flagrant contact.
The technical fouls were assessed to Rogers and Matthews, but, after a discussion between coaches Gus Herrington (Walbrook) and Charlie Moore (Lake Clifton) and Pinchback and McCann, neither player was ejected.
In fact, the players were only banned for the remainder of the first half and allowed to play in the second half -- an apparent contradiction of the rules.
Ward also said because players from both teams left the bench during the fight both coaches should have been assessed a bench technical foul because the players entered the game without being beckoned by an official.
Any player who left the bench and was involved in the fight should have been assessed a technical and ejected.
IAABO Board No. 290 president Archie Shaw said last night that Pinchback's punishment was more lenient "for not applying all the rules. He did not apply the bench decorum rule. He applied the fighting rule but the bench decorum and conduct of players entering court, he did not apply."
Shaw said McCann was suspended for "violating and not applying national federation rules on fighting and for a veteran official of that many years there is no excuse for not applying the rules. He has a right to appeal. We've asked him for a letter [explaining his actions] but as of now he has not replied."
Shaw said according to a written account by Pinchback, Pinchback intervened in the fight between Rogers and Matthews after he saw the two throwing punches. Pinchback said both benches cleared and some spectators also became involved. When order was restored Pinchback ruled both players would be ejected for the remainder of the game, however he was overruled by McCann.
McCann, who has been an official for 26 years and the Board No. 290 commissioner for 12 years, gave a different version in an interview with the Baltimore Sun Tuesday.
"There was no definite knowledge that a punch was thrown,said McCann. "I didn't see it start, and I'm sticking to that story. Nobody really saw what happened.
"The coaches were not a factor in determining whether or not the players were ejected. For the best interest of the crowd, we just decided not to eject them. I see no problem with that."
=1 Apparently the executive board saw otherwise.
County title on line
The Baltimore County championship basketball games are Saturday.
On the girls side, 3A-4A league champ Randallstown is at 1A-2A league champ Towson at 1 p.m. On the boys side, the 1A-2A league champ Milford Mill or Overlea will be at 3A-4A league champ Randallstown at 4 p.m.
Today, Overlea (18-1 overall) is playing Hereford and Milford Mill (17-2 overall, not including holiday tournament results) is playing Towson.
If both win or both lose, they will finish the season tied for first and Overlea will meet Randallstown based on its better overall winning percentage.
I= If one loses, the other meets Randallstown for the title.
Penalty crackdown?
If last weekend's dual-meet wrestling state finals are any indication, technical violations such as stalling,slamming and illegal holds will be scrutinized more closely at the regional and state tournaments over the next couple weekends.
"Between us and Quince Orchard, there were 20 calls for stalling in our match, and 12 of them went for points. During the year, we averaged about two or three in a dual meet," said coach John Mayberry, whose No. 4 Broadneck squad lost to runner-up Quince Orchard.
"I agree with it because everybody wants the kids to wrestle. I just think it has to be called consistently all year long."
A technical violation can result in disqualification -- worth six points to the opposing team -- when five are committed in a match, or when a wrestler injures his opponent while committing illegal hold or slam.
Some coaches, like Perry Hall's Al Miller, feel the illegal hold-slam rules should be modified.
"If it's unintentional, you should award the point to the injured guy, then go to your score card to declare a winner. But that'll never happen," said Miller.
Recently, Frederick's two-time state champ Tim Novak (140 pounds) was disqualified for slamming a Quince Orchard opponent after having built a huge lead.
Novak's loss, the difference in Quince Orchard's 28-22 win, is reminiscent of a controversial decision at last year's state tournament.
Rising Sun's two-time state champ Jason Townsend (160) was disqualified for using an injury-causing illegal hold in his semifinal against Williamsport's Troy Straightiff, who had to forfeit his title bout to Damascus' Tom Horwat.