Rule 2-1

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RULE 2 - SECTION 1
GAME AND TABLE OFFICIALS

ART. 1 . . . The official’s uniform must be a black-and-white striped shirt, black pants, primarily black shoes and socks.

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ART. 2 . . . The game officials must be a referee and an umpire or a referee and two umpires who must be assisted by an official timer and scorer.

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ART. 3 . . . The scorer and timer must be located at the scorer’s and timer’s table on the side of the court. It is recommended that the official scorer and timer be seated next to each other.

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Rule 2-1

RULE 2 - SECTION 1
GAME AND TABLE OFFICIALS

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ART. 1 . . . The official’s uniform must be a black-and-white striped shirt, black pants, primarily black shoes and socks.

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ART. 2 . . . The game officials must be a referee and an umpire or a referee and two umpires who must be assisted by an official timer and scorer.

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ART. 3 . . . The scorer and timer must be located at the scorer’s and timer’s table on the side of the court. It is recommended that the official scorer and timer be seated next to each other.

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Rule 2-2

RULE 2 - SECTION 2
OFFICIALS’ JURISDICTION

ART. 1 . . . The officials must make decisions for infractions of the rules committed within or outside the boundary lines. The use of any replay or television monitoring equipment by the officials in making any decision relating to the game is prohibited.

NOTE: A state association may permit game or replay officials to use a replay monitor during state championship series contests to determine if a scored goal at the expiration of time in the fourth quarter or any overtime period (0:00 on the game clock) should be counted, and if so, determine if it is a two-point or a three-point goal.

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ART. 2 . . . The officials’ jurisdiction, prior to the game, begins when they arrive on the floor. The officials’ arrival on the floor must be at least 15 minutes before the scheduled starting time of the game.

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ART. 3 . . . The officials’ jurisdiction extends through periods when the game may be momentarily stopped for any reason.

ART. 4 . . . The jurisdiction of the officials is terminated and the final score has been approved when all officials leave the visual confines of the playing area.

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NOTE: The officials retain clerical authority over the contest through the completion of any reports, including those imposing disqualifications, which are responsive to actions occurring while the officials had jurisdiction. State associations may intercede in the event of unusual incidents that occur before, during or after the officials’ jurisdiction has ended or in the event that a contest is terminated prior to the conclusion of regulation play.

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Rule 2-3

RULE 2 - SECTION 3
REFEREE’S AUTHORITY

The referee must make decisions on any points not specifically covered in the rules.

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Rule 2-4

RULE 2 - SECTION 4
REFEREE’S PREGAME DUTIES

 

The referee must:

ART. 1 . . . Inspect and approve all equipment, including court, baskets, ball, backboards, and scorer’s and timer’s signals.

ART. 2 . . . Designate the official timepiece and official timer prior to the scheduled starting time of the game.

ART. 3 . . . Designate the official scorebook and official scorer prior to the scheduled starting time of the game.

NOTE: A state association may authorize use of supplementary equipment to aid in game administration.

ART. 4 . . . Be responsible for having each team notified three minutes before each half is to begin.

ART. 5 . . . Verify with the head coach, prior to each contest, that his/her team member’s uniforms and equipment are legal and will be worn properly, and that all participants will exhibit proper sporting behavior throughout the contest.

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Rule 2-5

RULE 2 - SECTION 5
REFEREE’S DUTIES DURING GAME

 

The referee must:

ART. 1 . . . Designate the official to toss the ball in the center restraining circle for all jump-ball situations.

ART. 2 . . . Administer the alternating-possession throw-in to start the second, third and fourth quarters.

ART. 3 . . . Decide whether a goal must count if the officials disagree.

ART. 4 . . . May declare the game a forfeit when conditions warrant.

ART. 5 . . . Decide matters upon which the scorer and timer disagree and correct obvious timing errors.

ART. 6 . . . Confer with the official scorer at halftime to determine the possession arrow is pointed in the proper direction to begin play in the third quarter.

ART. 7 . . . Check and approve the score at the end of each half.

ART. 8 . . . Inform each team and the table officials of the overtime procedures when the score is tied at the end of regulation time.

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Rule 2-6

RULE 2 - SECTION 6
OFFICIALS’ AUTHORITY

No official has the authority to set aside or question decisions made by the other official(s) within the limits of their respective outlined duties.

 

Rule 2-7

RULE 2 - SECTION 7
OFFICIALS’ GENERAL DUTIES

The officials must conduct the game in accordance with the rules. This includes:

ART. 1 . . . Notifying the captains when play is about to begin at the start of the game.

ART. 2 . . . Putting the ball in play.

ART. 3 . . . Determining when the ball becomes dead and live.

ART. 4 . . . Prohibiting practice during a dead ball, except between halves.

ART. 5 . . . Administering penalties.

ART. 6 . . . Granting and charging time-out.

ART. 7 . . . Beckoning substitutes to enter the court.

ART. 8 . . . Signaling a three-point attempt and signaling a successful three point goal.

ART. 9 . . . Silently and visibly counting seconds to administer the throw in (7-6), free-throw (8-4; 9-1-3a), backcourt (9-8) and closely-guarded (9-10) rules.

ART. 10 . . . Reporting a team warning for delay to the official scorer and then to the head coach.

ART. 11 . . . Reporting a team warning for head coach/bench personnel misconduct to the official and then to the head coach.

ART. 12 . . . Notifying the head coach when a team is granted its final allowable time-out.

 

Rule 2-8

RULE 2 - SECTION 8
OFFICIALS’ ADDITIONAL DUTIES

The officials must:

ART. 1 . . . Penalize unsporting conduct by any player, coach, substitute, team attendant or follower.

NOTE: The home management or game committee is responsible for spectator behavior, insofar as it can reasonably be expected to control the spectators. The officials may rule fouls on either team if its supporters act in such a way as to interfere with the proper conduct of the game. Discretion must be used in ruling such fouls, however, lest a team be unjustly penalized. When team supporters become unruly or interfere with the orderly progress of the game, the officials must stop the game until the host management resolves the situation and the game can proceed in an orderly manner. In the absence of a designated school representative, the home coach must serve as the host management.

ART. 2 . . . Penalize and disqualify the offender if flagrant misconduct occurs.

ART. 3 . . . Remove a player from the game who commits his/her fifth foul (personal and technical).

ART. 4 . . . Notify the head coach and request the timer to begin the replacement interval, and then notify the player on a disqualification.

ART. 5 . . . Immediately remove a player from the game who exhibits signs, symptoms or behaviors consistent with a concussion as in 3-3-8. (See NFHS Suggested Guidelines for Management of Concussion in Sports)

 

 

Rule 2-9

RULE 2 - SECTION 9
SIGNALS

ART. 1 . . . When a foul occurs, an official must signal the timer to stop the clock. The official must verbally inform the offender, then with finger(s) of two hands, indicate to the scorer the number of the offender and the number of free throws.

ART. 2 . . . When a team is entitled to a throw-in, an official must signal the timer to stop the clock and clearly signal:

a. The act which caused the ball to become dead.
b. The direction of play and announce the color of the team entitled to the throw-in.
c. The throw-in spot unless it follows a successful goal or an awarded goal.

 

Rule 2-10

RULE 2 - SECTION 10
CORRECTABLE ERRORS

ART. 1 . . . Officials may correct an error if a rule is inadvertently set aside and results in:

a. Failure to award a merited free throw.
b. Awarding an unmerited free throw.
c. Permitting a wrong player to attempt a free throw.
d. Attempting a free throw at the wrong basket.
e. Erroneously counting or canceling a score.

ART. 2 . . . In order to correct any of the officials’ errors listed in Article 1, such error must be recognized by an official no later than during the first dead ball after the clock has properly started.

ART. 3 . . . If in Article 1e the error is made while the clock is running and the ball dead, it must be recognized by an official before the second live ball.

ART. 4 . . . If the error is a free throw by the wrong player or at the wrong basket, or the awarding of an unmerited free throw, the free throw and the activity during it, other than unsporting, flagrant, intentional or technical fouls, must be canceled.

ART. 5 . . . Points scored, consumed time and additional activity, which may occur prior to the recognition of an error, must not be nullified. Errors because of free-throw attempts by the wrong player or at the wrong basket must be corrected by applying 8-1 and 2.

ART. 6 . . . If an error is corrected, play must be resumed from the point of interruption to rectify the error, unless it involves awarding a merited free throw(s) and there has been no change of team possession since the error was made, in which case play must resume as after any free-throw attempt(s).

 

 

Rule 2-11

RULE 2 - SECTION 11
SCORER’S DUTIES

The scorer must:

ART. 1 . . . Keep a record of the names and numbers of players who are to start the game and of all substitutes who enter the game. NOTE: It is recommended the team member’s numbers be entered into the scorebook in numerical order.

ART. 2 . . . Notify the nearer official when there is an infraction of the rules pertaining to submission of the roster, substitutions or numbers of players.

ART. 3 . . . Signal the officials by using the game horn or a sounding device unlike that used by the referee and umpire(s). This may be used immediately if, or as soon as, the ball is dead or is in control of the offending team.

ART. 4 . . . Record the field goals made, the free throws made and missed, and keep a running summary of the points scored.

ART. 5 . . . Record warnings for head coach/bench personnel misconduct as well as the personal and technical fouls reported on each player and notify an official immediately when the fifth foul (personal and technical) is charged to any player, the second technical foul is charged to any team member, bench personnel, or directly to the head coach, or the third technical foul is charged to the head coach.

NOTE: The procedure if a player who has committed his/her fifth foul – continues to play because the scorer has failed to notify the official is as follows: As soon as the scorer discovers the irregularity, the game horn should be sounded after, or as soon as, the ball is in control of the offending team or is dead. The disqualified player must be removed immediately. Any points which may have been scored while such player was illegally in the game are counted. If other aspects of the error are correctable, the procedure to be followed is included among the duties of the officials.

ART. 6 . . . Record the time-out information charged to each team (who and when) and notify a team and its coach, through an official, whenever that team is granted its final allotted charged time-out.

ART. 7 . . . Record the jump balls for the alternating-possession procedure and be responsible for the possession arrow.

ART. 8 . . . Record the number of warnings in the official scorebook, as in Rule 4-47and 4-48.

ART. 9 . . . Signal the nearer official each time a team is granted a time-out in excess of the allotted number.

ART. 10 . . . Signal in each half when a player commits a common foul beginning with his/her team’s seventh and 10th foul.

ART. 11 . . . Compare records with the visiting scorer after each goal, each foul, each charged time-out, and end of each quarter and extra period, notifying the referee at once of any discrepancy. If the mistake cannot be found, the referee must accept the record of the official scorebook, unless he/she has knowledge which permits him/her to decide otherwise. If the discrepancy is in the score and the mistake is not resolved, the referee must accept the progressive team totals of the official scorebook. A bookkeeping mistake may be corrected at any time until the referee approves the final score. The scorebook of the home team must be the official book, unless the referee rules otherwise. The official scorebook must remain at the scorer’s table throughout the game, including all intermissions.

ART. 12 . . . The official scorer is required to wear a black-and-white vertically striped garment.

 

 

Rule 2-12

RULE 2 - SECTION 12
TIMER’S DUTIES

The timer must:

ART. 1 . . . Note when each half is to start and must notify the referee more than three minutes before this time so the referee may notify the teams, or cause them to be notified, at least three minutes before the half is to start.

ART. 2 . . . Signal the scorer three minutes before starting time.

ART. 3 . . . Be provided with a clock to be used for timing quarters, extra periods and intermissions, and a stopwatch for timing time-outs. The clock must be operated by the official timer. The clock and a stopwatch must be placed so that they may be seen by the timer. The clock must be started or stopped as prescribed in Rule 5-8 and 5-9.

ART. 4 . . . Sound a warning signal 15 seconds before the expiration of an intermission or a time-out, immediately after which the players must prepare to resume play, and signal again at the end of the intermission or time-out.

ART. 5 . . . Sound a warning signal to announce 15 seconds (maximum) permitted for replacing a disqualified or injured player, or for a player directed to leave the game.

NOTE: The official must signal the timer to begin the 15-second interval for replacing an injured player after the injured player has been removed from the court and the coach has been notified that a replacement is required, except as in 3-3-6.

ART. 6 . . . Stop the clock at the expiration of time for each quarter or extra period, and when an official signals time-out, as in 5-8. For an intermission or a charged time-out, start the stopwatch and signal the referee as outlined in Article 4.

ART. 7 . . . Indicate by signal the expiration of playing time in each quarter or extra period. If a red/LED light is used, the light is the official expiration of playing time.

 

Rule 2-13

RULE 2 - SECTION 13
TIMER’S EQUIPMENT

If the red/LED light fails to illuminate and the timer’s signal fails to sound, or is not recognized by the officials, the timer must go onto the court or use other means to immediately notify the nearest official. If in the meantime, a goal has been made or a foul has occurred, the referee must consult the timer:

ART. 1 . . . If table officials agree that time expired before the ball was in flight, the goal must not count.

ART. 2 . . . If table officials agree that the quarter or extra period ended, as in 5-6-2 before the foul occurred, the foul must be disregarded, unless it was intentional or flagrant.

ART. 3 . . . If table officials disagree, the goal must count and/or the foul must be penalized, unless the referee has knowledge which alters such ruling.

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