The Dexter Tigers will be heading to the state championship game next Saturday, as they knocked off the Central Aroostook Panthers 50-48 with a game winning three pointer. But there is a lot of controversy in regarding, if the shot should’ve counted or not. My opinion is the shot should’ve NOT counted, and here is why.

The game was a really good one to watch, two really talented teams going at each other trying to punch their ticket to the state championship game. Dexter was ahead for most of the game, but Central Aroostook had a great comeback to take the lead. With about 10 seconds left in the game(maybe less than that, can’t remember exactly), Dexter pushed the ball up the floor, the Dexter point guard passed off to #10 who took one dribble after he caught the ball and shot a 3 pointer at the buzzer to win the game by 2.

As we clearly see here, the ball is still in his hands, the clock is at “00.0”, and the lights are red. That means the game is over and the shot should’ve not counted.

Even before looking at the replay, I personally did not believe the shot should’ve counted. I was completely shocked that they counted this shot and was surprised they did not overturn this after going to the scorer’s table after this call.

I am not trying to biased, but whether if this happened to Central Aroostook or Dexter or any other team in basketball, THIS SHOT SHOULD’VE NOT COUNTED!

About an hour after this shot happened, Eastern Maine Sports posted this photo, that a Dexter parent sent to their Facebook page (which is now deleted), trying to prove another angle of the shot saying the shot should’ve counted.

Yes, that scoreboard says “00.1” and the ball is out of his hand, but they are not showing the hoop or the clock that is on top of the scoreboard. Here is some other angles to prove that the ball was still in his hands when the clock went off.

The scoreboard on the side of the Cross Insurance Center, and behind hoops are for the fans pleasure to see the score and to also see the players who are doing the scoring and see the personal fouls. That is not the actual official clock. The official clock is on top of the backboard, and they added the red lights on the backboard to help the refs know when the clock officially stops.

With it saying “00.1” on the side of the arena, after the red lights go on and the top of the hoop clock says “00.0”, does not prove that the shot should’ve counted. It means the Cross Insurance Center needs to sync their scoreboard a little bit faster to their official clock.

If you don’t agree with me on that, then listen to this. This goes back to about 2010 or 2011 when the Boston Celtics faced the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden.

I remember watching this game as a kid, this was the game that Paul Pierce hit the game winner with “00.4” seconds left in the game. A lot of people seem to forget what happened he hit that shot, and what the Knicks drew up for the game winner after calling a timeout.

On the out of bounds play, Amare Stoudemire received the ball at the very top of the key, turned around, and nailed a three pointer.

After replay this shot obviously did not count, because this shot happened all within four tenths of a second remaining. Look how he still has the ball, the buzzer sounded, red lights are on, and the clock on top of the hoop say “00.0”. If you look at the scoreboard behind the hoop, like what the Cross Insurance Center has, the clock says “00.1” on it. So if you are saying that the Dexter shot should’ve counted because the side of the arena said “00.1”, then this shot that happened in an actual NBA game should’ve counted as well. And I am not just saying this, because I am a Celtics fan.

So just like the Cross Insurance Center and Madison Square Garden in New York, their clock on the scoreboard does not sync with the official clock on top of the scoreboard.

I will admit that this call was very tough to call for the referee from eye point of view. I would’ve not wanted to be in his shoes trying to make this call as well. I’m not sure if they are allowed to review this on a monitor after a game, like they do for an actual NBA game, but this was a big important call that was missed.

I am not trying to start any controversy, I am just speaking my opinion and thoughts on this call. Very tough call to make from an eye view, but this was a big missed call in a big time. I’m sure there was a bit of missed calls in this game, but this was one of the biggest missed calls in the game.

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