By Ryan Deal

605 Sports

In the third quarter, White River was leading 31-25 at the 7:37 mark and Aberdeen Christian’s Ethan Russell shot a pair of free throws. Russell missed the first free throw, and while play was stopped to work through a foul call, the scorekeeper mistakenly added a point for Aberdeen Christian. Russell made the second free throw and that put the score — inadvertently — at 31-27, instead of 31-26. 

The White River scorekeeper recognized the error and it was eventually discussed by the officials later in the game. Swartos said, by The National Federation of State High School Associations rule, the next dead ball is when the scoring error should have been addressed. The next dead ball after the incident was at the 7:05 mark. 

The discussion with the officials and the scorers table did not take place until later in the game. 

“If there’s a dispute and the dispute can’t be resolved by rule, the referee is supposed to accept the official scorer's book,” Swartos said.  

Swartos added the game’s outcome will not be changed. Aberdeen Christian is the third-place finisher, while White River took fourth place. 

“Once the game is finished and the officials approve the official scorebook, it’s over,” Swartos said. “You can’t go back and retroactively change the outcome of a contest. Unfortunately there’s nothing we can do in terms of the result for that game. All we can do is make sure we are better for the future.”

The SDHSAA sent a letter to both officials at White River and Aberdeen Christian explaining the situation. They’ve also had extended conversations and apologized to White River, which Swartos said is understandably “frustrated of course.” 

Swartos added additional training for scorer’s table workers and officials will take place in the future. Swartos said they will consider rearranging their head tables to make sure the official scorer and team scorekeepers are in closer vicinity.  

“So if there is a question on scoring they are right there and they have an opportunity to communicate throughout,” Swartos said. “Ideally, your official scorer and team scorers are communicating after every point and making sure that they are all on the same page.”

White River's Eldon Marshall, left, disputes a call at the Class B boys basketball tournament on March 18 in Aberdeen. (Matt Gade / For 605 Sports)

In the third quarter, more confusion and another stoppage in play benefitted Aberdeen Christian. Russell made a free throw at the 1:20 mark and officials noticed blood on White River’s T.J. Beardt leg before the next free throw. White River coach Eldon Marshall opted to call a timeout, instead of subbing out Beardt. 

After the 30-second timeout, Russell missed the second free throw and White River’s Joe Sayler grabbed the rebound. But officials blew the play dead after confusion whether it was the first or second free throw. After discussion, the officials ruled it a jump ball and possession went back to Aberdeen Christian, which scored on the inbound play to make it 45-45.

The three points — the inadvertent free throw and two off the jump ball — loomed large as the game went in overtime. 

“Toward the end of the game, if one team has one-point less than what is showing on the scoreboard, it changes their tactics,” Swartos said. “It changes the other team’s tactics. It’s a completely different game.”

There was also a discrepancy in the team fouls for Aberdeen Christian in the second half. The Knights committed their personal foul at 5:37 of the third period, but the foul does not appear to have been recognized in the running total of fouls in the half.

Thus, when Aberdeen Christian committed its seventh team foul of the half, the total erroneously showed only six team fouls, meaning White River was not put in the bonus until Aberdeen Christian’s actual eighth foul of the half. 

However, the seventh team foul committed by Aberdeen Christian was a team possession foul, which does not result in free throws. 

“So it didn’t lead to a missed free throw opportunity for White River,” Swartos said. “But it still shouldn't have happened.” 

“We are incredibly sorry it happened,” Swartos added about the errors. “We take accountability for it happening and we are committed to making sure we do everything in our power to make sure it doesn't happen again.”