Be the Referee: 3-Second Rule

March 5, 2020

This week, MHSAA assistant director Brent Rice explains one of the most misunderstood rules in basketball – the 3-second rule.  

Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.

Below is this week's segment - Misunderstood Rules: 3 Seconds - Listen

It’s hard to go to a basketball game and not sit near other fans who are yelling about the officials not calling three seconds. The 3-second rule is one of the most misunderstood rules in the game of basketball.

The purpose and philosophy of the rule is to not allow a player who is significantly taller than his or her opponent to camp out in the middle of the lane and create an unfair advantage. The 3-second count is in effect whenever an offensive player has at least one foot in the lane when his or her team is in possession of the ball. That count stops as soon as a try – a shot – is attempted or a try is imminent; and the count cannot start again until there is control of a rebound.

Keep this in mind at the next game you attend.

Past editions

Feb. 27: Clarifying Takedowns - Listen
Feb. 20: Basketball Officials Manual - Listen
Feb. 13: Held Ball or Traveling - Listen
Feb. 6: Hockey Rules Chart - Listen
Jan. 30: Cheer Safety - Listen
Jan. 23: Goaltending - Listen
Jan. 16: Wrestling Tie-Breaker - Listen
Jan. 9: Pregame Meeting - Listen
Dec. 19: Alternating Possession - Listen
Dec. 12: Ratings - Listen
Dec. 5: Video Review Success - Listen
Nov. 28: 
More Injury Time - Listen
Nov. 21: Football Review - Listen
Nov. 14: Sideline Safety - Listen
Nov. 7: Officials Playlist - Listen
Oct. 31: Most Important Line - Listen
Oct. 24: Automatic 1st Downs - Listen
Oct. 17: Catch Momentum - Listen
Oct. 10: Golf Rules Changes - Listen
Oct. 3: No Tackle Box - Listen
Sept. 26: You Make the Overtime Call - Listen
Sept. 19: Swimming Finishing Touch - Listen
Sept. 12: Curbing Gamesmanship By Substitution - Listen
Sept. 5: Football Safety Rules Changes - Listen
Aug. 29: 40-Second Play Clock - Listen

Davis Twins Putting Finishing Touches on Doubly Sensational West Bloomfield Legacy

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

January 25, 2024

Indya and Summer Davis are like most twins in that it often is hard to tell their differences.

Greater DetroitBut each definitely is her own person, especially off of the court. 

Indya likes fish and lasagna, while Summer doesn’t. 

Summer’s favorite color is blue, while Indya prefers pink. 

Indya’s favorite music artist is Brent Faivaz, while Summer likes Kanye West. 

There are also some subtle differences on the basketball court too as they proceed through their senior year at West Bloomfield.

While both are 5-foot-9, Indya spends more of her time in the paint dominating the boards and getting points in the post, while Summer is sharp shooting from the outside and helps facilitate the offense. 

“I’m more on the arc than she is,” Summer Davis said. “She is more like an inside player, but she can (play the perimeter) too. With most of the positions how they are (on the team), she is more on the inside.”

However, just like they complement each other off the court, they have brilliantly done the same for the past three seasons in taking the West Bloomfield girls basketball program to new heights.

As sophomores, the duo was the centerpiece of a West Bloomfield team that won the Division 1 championship, the first in program history. The twins were better last year as juniors, but couldn’t quite help lead the Lakers to a repeat with a 40-36 loss to Rockford in the championship game at Breslin Center. 

Even better and hungrier this year as seniors, the Davis twins not only form the best tandem on a team in the state, but they might end up as each other’s biggest competition for the Miss Basketball Award. 

It’s certainly hard to tell them apart on the court, and that has everything to do with their games and not solely focusing on the fact they are identical twins. 

Summer, left, and Indya Davis last week.The two might have different roles at the moment in West Bloomfield’s system, but if you asked them to reverse roles with Indya moving to the perimeter and Summer inside, they would likely thrive just as much.

“We’re definitely all-around players,” Indya Davis said. 

West Bloomfield head coach Darrin McAllister said that has been the case since he first met the twins as middle schoolers playing in the Michigan Storm AAU program. 

McAllister said the Davis twins were like sponges back then wanting to absorb as much knowledge as they could, even if McAllister wasn’t technically their coach because he was presiding over an older-aged team within the program.

“I think they were about sixth or seventh grade,” McAllister said. “After every practice, they would come up to me and say, ‘Hey can you show me this? Can you show me that?’ To be honest with you, I was tired and ready to go home, but these little kids wanted to learn. They continued to come in and bug me about little things. Some of the moves we worked on when they were in sixth and seventh grade, they’re executing right now.” 

Summer Davis said she has always had basketball as her No. 1 sport, but Indya said she did dabble a bit in tennis and gymnastics when she was younger. 

By the time they were 10 years old, they decided to focus solely on basketball, and the rest is history.
Following Friday’s game against Oxford, Summer leads the team in scoring at 17.2 points per game, assists at 4.9 a contest, and steals at 5.3 a game. 

Indya Davis is averaging just over 15 points a game to go along with 6.6 rebounds for a West Bloomfield team that is 9-0. The stats would probably be even higher, but the Lakers haven’t played in many close games this year and the twins’ minutes have been limited. West Bloomfield also gets significant contributions from senior Kendall Hendrix, another future Division I college player who has signed with Loyola Chicago.

Once their high school careers are over, the Davis twins will continue to play together at Georgia. The twins originally committed to Michigan State, but decommitted after former head coach Suzy Merchant resigned. 

While wanting to rack up stats and be 1-2 in the Miss Basketball voting, the two are also identical and aligned in their prime motivation for the rest of their final high school season. 

That would be to get back on top of the state and avenge the loss to Rockford in last year’s Final. 

“I think we’re more about the lesson we learned from it,” Indya Davis said. “How driven we are to come back stronger than we were. Look at where we made mistakes and what we can do better. Just come out harder than ever.”

As has been the case throughout their careers, two would be better than one when it comes to Division 1 championships for the Davis sisters and West Bloomfield.

Keith DunlapKeith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties

PHOTOS (Top) West Bloomfield’s Summer Davis (23) brings the ball up the court during last season’s Division 1 Semifinal win over Salem, with sister Indya Davis (24) leading the way. (Middle) Summer, left, and Indya Davis last week.