It’s final: Manasquan High School buzzer-beater that got overturned will remain

MANASQUAN, N.J. (PIX11) — The buzzer-beater victory that became a defeat will remain a defeat.

It’s a sad result for the boys’ varsity basketball team at Manasquan High School, which has had a tumultuous week. On Friday afternoon, Manasquan Schools Superintendent Frank Kasyan confirmed that the New Jersey acting commissioner of education, Kevin Dehmer, declined to overturn the controversial decision from the semifinal game that the boys’ team had played Tuesday evening.

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In that game, Manasquan took a shot to the basket that made it into the hoop just before the final buzzer. Many videos of that moment confirm that the shot was good, and the referee overseeing the play declared it so. But a moment later, all three referees on the court conferred and overturned the first referee’s decision, awarding the win that had belonged to Cinderella team Manasquan to their much more seasoned rival, Camden High School. It sparked a firestorm of reaction at the game, which spread far and wide across the internet and other media.

On Friday, though, Manasquan Superintendent Kasyan said in an interview, “I wish them the best,” regarding Camden, as it heads to the state championship game in Group 2. The game will be played on Saturday afternoon at Rutgers University.

“The best thing that happens for us is for Camden to win tomorrow,” Kasyan said, referring to the prospect of Manasquan having beaten the potential state champion.

After their win was overturned by referees on Tuesday, the Manasquan School District took their case to court in Ocean County on Wednesday. There, a superior court judge ruled that the court had no jurisdiction to intervene in the semifinal championship game’s outcome, and that the education commissioner had the final word.

“When you feel you’ve been unjustifiably dealt with,” Superintendent Kasyan said, “use the process and procedure that’s in place, go through it, and then accept the results.”

“Unfortunately for us, it didn’t go in our favor,” he added.

After the education commissioner made his decision leaving Camden as the victors, students at Manasquan High School reacted.

“That being their last game of their season, and that’s how they end off their high school career,” said Nick Bounassi, a Manasquan senior, “I think it’s just an absolute travesty.”

Rylie Eldridge, another senior, is one of the team’s managers.

“We’ve all spent the last four years as a team together,” she said, “and for it to end like that, it was just really sad.”

The superintendent said that his district’s attorneys have taken their case to an appeals court, but acknowledged that it was essentially a pro forma move intended to show students that it’s important to follow a process to its fullest extent.

Jack Maggs, another senior, tried to put it all into perspective. “You could go back and take it as a lesson,” he said, “to accountability and just hopefully holding their heads high, knowing they really should’ve won.”

On Saturday, another Manasquan team will be in a state championship game. The girls’ varsity team plays at 2 p.m. The boys’ game, between Camden High School and Newark’s Arts High School, is set for a noon tipoff.

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