Officials can use video to review last-second shots at CIAC finals

It’s been almost 11 years, but Mercy girls basketball coach Tim Kohs can see the play that elapsed right in front of him: Maria Weselyj hitting the game-winning 3-point shot in the Class LL championship game.

You may have seen it on YouTube once or twice.

Mercy defeated Lauralton Hall 54-53 in March of 2013 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville. The Mercy players celebrated winning the state championship: But Kohs hustled to get his players back to the bench. The officials were checking the video.

The CIAC boys and girl basketball committees had recently voted in a rule that allowed for video replay of last-second shots at the end of any quarter or the game itself.

“I was 99 percent sure it was a 3, but I didn’t want us to jump up and down celebrating if she made a 2,” Kohs said.

The CIAC rule reads: “The CIAC Boys and Girls Basketball Committees voted to adopt video replay for the FINAL GAMES OF THE TOURNAMENT ONLY and only in facilities that have official video equipment and replay capabilities. Video replay will only be used on the final shot of the quarter, half or end of the game when the official needs to confirm if the point was scored before time elapsed and/or if the point was a two or three point shot.”

The officials verified the call that had been made: Weselyj’s 3point shot was good. Mercy won.

Last week in New Jersey, Manasquan High made a last-second shot that would have beaten Camden (N.J.) in a semifinalround playoff game. The officials reversed their decision, saying the shot had not gotten off in time, awarding the win to Camden.

Video evidence after the fact showed Manasquan had indeed made the basket before the game clock expired. The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) does not use video evidence to determine lastsecond calls, leaving the decision in the hands of the officials. Once they leave the floor, there is no room for appeal.

The NJSIAA admitted the final decision was incorrect, but could not overturn the decision based on

its own rules.

A lawsuit was filed on behalf of Manasquan High against the NJSIAA to try and get the decision reversed so it could play for the championship instead. But the lawsuit was denied and Camden went on to win the Group 2 championship.

This possibility could occur at any round of the CIAC tournament other than the final because no video replay can be used to determine last-second calls. The Mohegan Sun Arena has the capability to be able to view video. “They have a professional

surveillance system

which gives us the ability to be able to (view video),” said Gregg Simon, the CIAC’s associate executive director. “But in a high school facility, we wouldn’t be able to do that.”

“I think it’s a good rule, especially if — say — it was a 3, they call it a 2 and then reverse it,” said Kohs, a longtime member of the CIAC Girls Basketball committee. “You want them to get it right. Let’s say they called it a 2 (back in 2013) and we go to overtime. I’d like to win the game or go to overtime based on the correct call.”

One of the things the video cannot be used for in

a CIAC final is putting time back on the clock. That is also up to the officials.

Kohs remembers officials huddling after Lauralton Hall hit the go-ahead basket. He remembers the clock running out and the buzzer going off. But Kohs had asked for a timeout before that occurred.

“I said to one of the officials, ‘If they score, I’m going to call an immediate timeout, so make sure you’re ready,’ ” Kohs recalled.

A total of 3.8 seconds was put back on the clock: enough time for Mercy to run its version of the famous Bryce Drew play for

Valparaiso in the 1998 NCAA tournament: inbounds throw-in past midcourt and a second pass to Weselyj right in front of the Mercy bench.

Then after the shot, the officials checked the video monitor to make sure Weselyj had indeed hit a 3pointer.

“I don’t know if that was year one of that rule, but I remember thinking at the time (it was passed), ‘I don’t know if this rule matters at all,’ ” Kohs said. “The rule is good. It didn’t change anything anyhow because they called it a 3 and video confirmed it was indeed a 3-point shot.”