Although the Manasquan school district decided to take legal action regarding an egregious referee error, members of the high school’s boys basketball team showed tremendous sportsmanship on Saturday.
The Jersey Shore high school thought they had won a trip to the Group 2 state championship after a buzzer-beater against Camden earlier this week. However, officials gathered afterward and reversed the call, giving Camden a 46-45 victory.
But numerous videos showed that the basket should have counted. The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association admitted the “error” but said the decision could not be reversed.
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Manasquan earned a trip to the state finals, but did not play in it.
Manasquan’s lawsuit asked for the championship game to be put on hold, but it took place on Saturday afternoon at Rutgers University, with Camden winning their second title in three years.
Although they weren’t on the court, Manasquan players still made the trip north to the Rutgers campus to watch the game, and when Camden won the title, Squan players gave Camden a standing ovation.
It should be noted that the Manasquan girls’ team are playing in their state final at Rutgers on Saturday afternoon, so perhaps they were there to show school spirit. But it cannot be denied that they showed sportsmanship when they certainly did not have to, considering that they should have been on the court, not in the stands.
Manasquan’s class act came amid backlash the Camden athletic director has received over the last 24 hours.
A basketball hoop, net and backboard during the Desert Classic between the Florida Atlantic Owls and the Arizona Wildcats at T-Mobile Arena on December 23, 2023, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Owls defeated the Wildcats 96-95 in double overtime. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
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On Friday night, a post came from an X account that is purportedly Camden athletic director Will Hickson’s. He said, “See you at Rutgers..” with heart emojis and the 1989 movie poster for Spike Lee’s “Do The Right Thing.”
Some in the comments viewed the post as trolling, considering the lengths Manasquan has gone in trying to reverse the decision made on Tuesday night.
A ball going through the hoop and net during the third quarter of a Mid-American Conference regular season college women’s basketball game between the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks and the Toledo Rockets on January 25, 2023, at Savage Arena in Toledo, Ohio. (Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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Camden won the state tournament in 2022 but were disqualified from it by the NJSIAA last year after getting into a fight during their county championship game. Last year’s Camden featured two McDonald’s All-Americans in D.J. Wagner and Aaron Bradshaw, both of whom play for Kentucky.
Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos and Scott Thompson contributed to this report.
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