Be the Referee: You Make the Call

February 21, 2019

This week, MHSAA officials coordinator Sam Davis takes us through a "You Make the Call" scenario in basketball.

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 – You Make the Call - Listen

Let’s test your rules knowledge with this basketball “you make the call.”

A player on the red team drives for the basket, and as he leaps into the air, a defender from the green team knocks the ball loose prior to the release of the shot. The red team player, still airborne, regains control of the loose ball, returns to the floor, starts to dribble again and scores.

You Make The Call – Do we have a traveling violation, a double dribble violation, or does play continue?

If you said play continues – you’re right. Under Rule 9-5 in the National Federation Basketball Rules Book, the loose ball created by the defender’s actions allows the offensive player to basically start a new possession. There is no violation, and the basket counts.

Past editions

February 14: Because They Love It - Listen
February 7: Coach/Official Communication - Listen
January 31: Backcourt Violation? - Listen
January 24: Required Hockey Equipment - Listen
January 17: You Make the Call: 10-Second Clock - Listen
January 10: Tripping in Hockey - Listen
January 3: Sliding in Basketball - Listen
December 27: Stalling in Wrestling - Listen
December 20: Basketball: You Make the Call - Listen
December 13: Basketball Uniform Safety - Listen
December 6: Coaching Box Expansion - Listen
November 29: Video Review, Part 2 - Listen
November 22: Video Review, Part 1 - Listen
November 15: You Make the Call - Sleeper Play - Listen
November 8: 7-Person Football Crews - Listen
November 1: Overtime Differences - Listen
October 25: Trickery & Communication - Listen
October 18: Punts & Missed Field Goals - Listen
October 11: What Officials Don't Do - Listen
October 4: Always 1st-and-Goal - Listen
September 27: Unique Kickoff Option - Listen
September 20: Uncatchable Pass - Listen
September 13: Soccer Rules Change - Listen
September 6: You Make the Call: Face Guarding - Listen
August 30: 40-Second Play Clock - Listen
August 23: Football Rules Changes - Listen

Arbor Prep Earns Saturday Return Driven by 'Unfinished Business'

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

March 21, 2024

EAST LANSING — Ypsilanti Arbor Prep won the Division 3 championship just two years ago, but it might as well have been 20 to the Gators. 

Arbor Prep’s 2022-23 season ended with a Regional Final loss, and that lit a fire for players and coaches who remembered what it felt like to win it all just a year before.

“Our warm-up shirts say, ‘Unfinished Business,’” Arbor Prep senior Stephanie Utomi said. “We take it personal. We knew from the start of the season — which is June for us — we knew what the goal was. We knew we wanted to get back here. It was a sour taste and it hurt a lot, to say the least. We wanted to go back-to-back. To be here, it’s everything. But the job’s not done.”

That business Arbor Prep wants to finish is just one win away, as the Gators returned to Michigan State’s Breslin Center on Thursday and earned a 52-30 win over Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest in the day’s second Division 3 Semifinal.

Arbor Prep (24-4) will look for its second championship in three years when it meets Niles Brandywine in the Division 3 Final at 4 p.m. Saturday. 

The Gators’ only losses this season were to Division 1 or Division 2 opponents: Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard, Jackson Northwest, Detroit Edison, and Detroit Country Day.

The Gators’ Angela Meggisson (2) considers her next move.“Our intentions were to make sure we had the right energy level and the right effort to start the game,” Arbor Prep head coach Scott Stine said. “We were going to try and press them, and we were going to try and create tempo.” 

Lutheran Northwest, which entered the MHSAA Tournament unranked and with nine losses, knew full well what it was up against in Arbor Prep.

But that obviously didn’t lessen the experience of reaching the Semifinals for the first time in school history and getting to play on the Breslin Center floor.

The school essentially took the day off Thursday, holding a sendoff for the team as it boarded its bus and then all driving to East Lansing to witness something the school had never experienced. 

“This is the first time in our school’s history that we’ve been able to do this, so they made it a really big day for us,” Lutheran Northwest junior Ashley Cadicamo said. “It made every moment count. The fact that we lost, it’s OK. We came here, and we were made to be here.”

The experience should prove especially valuable since Lutheran Northwest had only one senior and three juniors on a roster dominated by underclassmen. The Crusaders had seven sophomores and two freshman on the roster. 

“Just being here was just huge for our team and our program, and with one senior, we are looking to possibly be back,” Lutheran Northwest head coach Jimmy Mehlberg said. 

Freshman Keaira Spiehs scored six points to lead Lutheran Northwest, which saw nine players score points. 

Senior Taylor Wallace scored 14 points, Stephanie Utomi scored 11 and senior Stacy Utomi added 10 points and nine rebounds for Arbor Prep. 

The Gators took a 34-16 lead into halftime and then scored the first eight points of the third quarter to build a 42-16 lead with 5:45 left in the period. Arbor Prep increased the advantage to 32 heading into the fourth quarter.

Click for the full box score. 

PHOTOS (Top) Arbor Prep’s Taylor Wallace (5) puts up a shot Thursday with Lutheran Northwest’s Charlotte Gramzow (3) defending. (Middle) The Gators’ Angela Meggisson (2) considers her next move. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)