The Manasquan boys basketball team was in attendance on Saturday afternoon for the state championship, just days removed from a controversial semifinal loss in the state semifinals.
The NJSIAA, the governing body for New Jersey high school sports, said this week that the wrong call was made in Camden’s (Camden, New Jersey) 46-45 win over Manasquan (Manasquan, New Jersey) in the state semifinals. Despite this fact, Manasquan stood and respectfully applauded Camden’s win in the state tournament.
It was an impressive display of sportsmanship, even as Manasquan had to feel that they belonged on the court at Rutgers on Saturday afternoon.
On Tuesday night, Manasquan had an apparent game-winner waived off by the game officials, a decision that gave Camden the win in the state semifinals. Video replay confirmed the original call by the officiating crew that the putback from Griffin Linstra of Manasquan had beaten the buzzer.
The original call, that Linstra made the shot in time to beat Camden, should have stood, giving Manasquan the win.
Instead, inexplicably, the basket was overturned and Camden was heading to Jersey Mike’s Arena on the Rutgers campus for the state championship.
The Manasquan boys basketball team was in the stands when Camden won the Group 2 state championship. The Warriors girls’ basketball team is playing for the Group 2 title right after the boys’ game.
Manasquan applauded the Panthers after beating Arts to win the state… pic.twitter.com/R31MgZ6GAH
— Jersey Sports Zone (@JSZ_Sports) March 9, 2024
On Wednesday, the NJSIAA acknowledged the officiating error in the game.