McClatchy fans flood court, denying Lincoln girls a chance to shoot

A wild ending at the end of an edge-of-your-seat Sac-Joaquin Section girls’ basketball playoff game on Monday night left one team and its fans jubilant and the other squad devastated, confused and flat angry.

That’s normal in the playoffs, but the Lincoln of Stockton game at McClatchy in a Division I quarterfinal was hardly normal.

McClatchy’s Tamaria Rumph scored on a runner in the lane with about seven seconds to play, the ball dropping through as the shot clock buzzer sounded. Lions fans flooded the court, including a woman holding a baby at midcourt, as Lincoln frantically tried to hustle down court to get up a shot to tie. But there were too many fans on the floor to get a clean look, and the referees hustled off the court amid the chaos, their actions signaling that the game was over,

McClatchy players and fans who packed into the old gym celebrated the 68-66 victory while Trojans players and coaches were stunned, leaving everyone with a lot more questions than answers. How did this happen? How do the referees allow it to happen? How did the referees not see that there was still time on the clock after McClatchy’s last bucket? Why would fans charge the court when there is still time on the clock?

And this: Can the Sac-Joaquin Section governing body do anything about it?

McClatchy athletic director Rob Feickert offered an explanation of what happened but not an excuse.

“When you look at the video, there was an eightsecond difference between the shot clock and the game clock,” Feikert said. “When the ball went up for the last two points, the shot clock went off. I think the crowd thought that was the game clock, and it clearly wasn’t.”

Feickert added, “I feel horrible for Lincoln, the players, the coach, and I told their coach the same thing. It’s a tough way to lose a game, just awful.”

Longtime Lincoln coach Chris Roemer said he feels for his players, adding that he was “Emotionally wiped. Never ever ever seen this before. Their AD (Feickert) was helpful, admitting wrong. A grown woman came on the floor in a defensive stance to guard my kid in play as she tried to tie the game. How does that happen?”

McClatchy advanced to Wednesday’s semifinal round against top-seeded Oak Ridge. Lincoln’s sea

son is over. There is no appeals process to challenge this result, nor is there any opportunity to review video in a game or after. Section assistant commissioner Will DeBoard said he was called by Roemer seconds after the frantic finish, the coach on the court relaying a bizarre story.

“Any time we get a call at 8:45 p.m. on game night, something’s up,” DeBoard said. “He explained what happened. I didn’t believe him, but I’ll be darned, when we saw the film clips, it was exactly how he explained it. I never would have guessed in a million years something like that would happen.”

Why can’t anything be done to correct a blatant wrong? Why not have the teams meet again to play those final seconds, without fans on the floor, or in the gym, for that matter? Apparently, the referees in all the excitement also believed the game was over, though it was the shot-clock buzzer and not the final buzzer.

“When the officials declare the game is over, it’s over,” DeBoard said. “There isn’t anything we can do. The officials are in charge and it’s their judgment. We can’t reverse a result. Would it be great if we could play those final seconds on a clean court? Absolutely. But we can’t. It’s unfortunate. You never want to see games end like that. The referees thought the game was over. Officials are human. They make mistakes.”

Roemer, the Lincoln coach, said he had a timeout remaining but didn’t use it to set up a plan. He wanted his best ball handler, Junae Mahan, to drive and attack on the fly, to catch McClatchy backpedaling. Mahan drove to attack but was met by a maze of people, none of whom should have been on the court with time remaining.

“I have friends that coach at the college level and they’ve seen the clips and they’re in shock,” Roemer said. “A mom guarding my player in a defensive stance? It’s a bad example to set for our youth. (McClatchy) is going to catch a lot of heat, rightfully so. There needs to be discussion and reaction. It’s unfortunate that kids can’t enjoy competition without interference from parents and adults. It’s unacceptable behavior by (those fans). It’s disgraceful that adults thought that was OK (to rush the court with time on the clock).”