High school basketball: Controversial ending in Kerman’s D-IV title win over Corcoran
The game between Kerman and Corcoran highs had a flair for the dramatic.
First, the Lions threw an inbound pass that sailed over Leon Madec that went out bounds.
The Panthers then had a chance to win the game with 9.2 seconds remaining and down 61-60.
Corcoran fired off two shots that bounced off the rim and before the third shot was taken, an inadvertent whistle blew with .5 seconds remaining.
The referees gathered and a timeout was taken.
As Corcoran was designing a play, referees told them they only had time for a tip-in play, but when they broke the huddle, the referees said they had time for a catch and shoot.
The Panthers tried for a tip-in shot but Daniel Bibioff stole the ball as time expired as the Lions won the Central Section Division IV boys championship.
“That one is going to haunt us for a little bit,” Corcoran coach Casey Snyder said. “It’s super frustrating as a coach. I’m going to take a lot of responsibility on this one. A one-point loss sucks. To get incorrect information and an inadvertent whistle at the end was painful.”
Kerman coach Tyler Morgan said he had no idea what was going on.
“We had to get a stop,” he said. “There’s no excuses. It’s a situation what it was and we had to execute.”
It’s the sixth title in school history for Kerman and the first since 2018, according to section historian Bob Barnett.
Leading the way for the Lions is Leon Madec, the son of former Fresno City College coach Ed Madec.
He finished with a game-high 30 points.
Madec said he enjoyed playing in front of big crowds and even heard his dad yell behind the Kerman bench.
He admitted that he was a bit nervous when Corcoran had chances to win the game.
“I was a little worried because I knew the ball was going to be under their rim,” he said. “We just had to lock up on defense.”
This story was originally published February 23, 2024 at 11:51 PM.
