In case you didn’t know, there is a shortage of high school game officials in California and elsewhere. It has been that way for several years.
Tuesday, the California Interscholastic Federation sent out another tweet, underscoring the crisis.
“What job gives you the chance to stay active, stay close to the sports you love and be a part of all the action? Officiating high school sports! We need more officials in every high school sport. Don’t wait! Sign up to suit up today! #BecomeAnOfficial”
After what I witnessed while sitting in the bleachers Tuesday night at Miramonte High during a CIF NorCal Division I boys basketball playoff game between the Orinda school and Clovis North, I can see why there is a shortage.
Who would want the job?
The language coming from the adults in the stands directed at the three officials in the hotly-contested game was cringe-worthy. The anger was unmistakable.
“You’re an embarrassment,” one woman in the Miramonte parents section screamed at the refs. “You’re an embarrassment.”
The spite wasn’t any better on the other side. At one point, three or four men — presumably Clovis North fathers — were ejected from the half-filled gym.
Were the refs flawless? No.
Were some of the calls questionable? Yes.
Did they deserve to be the target of language not suitable for young children? Absolutely not.
This is high school. It is education-based athletics. Not everything is fair on the court, just like not everything is fair in life.
Without those three officials on the court, there is no game.
I repeat: There is no game.
As it turned out, the grown-up in the room might have been a Miramonte senior whose high school career ended in the gut-wrenching 70-68 overtime loss.
James Frye was disappointed and baffled by some of the calls, including one against him as he made an offensive move in the lane in the final seconds of overtime with his team trailing by a point. But Frye also credited Clovis North for being a lot better than its 19-11 record and waxed poetic about the experience of playing alongside teammates he called his brothers since third grade.
“I love those guys,” he said.
Uh-oh
Campolindo, the No. 1 overall seed in the NorCal Open Division, won’t play its first regional game until Saturday at home against the winner of tonight’s Archbishop Riordan at De La Salle matchup. But the Moraga school’s league rivals, which gave Campo tight games all season and were thought to be among the best in NorCal, all lost Tuesday.
Miramonte: Done.
Northgate: Done.
Clayton Valley Charter: Done.
We’ll see Saturday how that bodes for Campolindo, which has won 46 of 47 games over the past two years.
Happy times at Lynbrook
The Lynbrook boys basketball program hadn’t won a Central Coast Section championship until it beat Christopher on Saturday for the Division II crown. Now the San Jose school is still alive in the NorCal playoffs after the first round. Lynbrook, seeded seventh in Division III, won at home Tuesday over Burbank of Sacramento 73-70.
In the quarterfinals Thursday, the Vikings will visit second-seeded Oakland, a 56-50 winner over Aptos on Tuesday.
Girls showdown
With Valley Christian and Bishop O’Dowd both winning first-round games in Division I on Tuesday, the stage is set for a quarterfinal showdown Thursday.
Valley Christian, seeded fifth, will make the trip from San Jose to Oakland to play O’Dowd after the Warriors advanced with a 56-51 victory over Monte Vista.
O’Dowd beat Sacred Heart Cathedral 55-39 on Tuesday.
The winner Thursday could face top-seeded Salesian in the semifinals Saturday. Salesian routed Acalanes 76-40 in the first round to set up a quarterfinal game Thursday against eighth-seeded Laguna Creek of Elk Grove.
Source: www.mercurynews.com