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Camden clear to play for NJSIAA state title after Manasquan’s Superior Court appeal is rejected

According to the court's decision: "Permitting such calls to be challenged on the basis of error would result in ongoing litigation, appeals, and scheduling issues."

A final blow was dealt to the Manasquan Board of Education’s attempts to overturn the result of Tuesday’s controversial loss to Camden High after the New Jersey State Superior Court’s Appellate Division denied its final appeal later Friday night, according to a Manasquan School District post on social media.

The defeat cleared the way for Camden to face Newark’s Arts High Saturday at Rutgers for the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s Group 2 boys’ state basketball championship.

Earlier on Friday, the New Jersey Department of Education’s commissioner denied an appeal regarding the NJSIAA decision to allow Camden to compete in Saturday’s finale after admitting earlier this week that referees had improperly disallowed a Manasquan basket Tuesday night that video evidence showed was scored moments before the final buzzer.

As a result, Camden won the game, 46-45.

Manasquan’s BOE later filed suit to temporarily postpone the final. The request, however, was denied by an Ocean County judge, who referred the case to acting commissioner Kevin Dehmer, who on Friday declined to intervene and also declined to hear an appeal on the matter.

“Tonight, we received word that the Appellate Division denied our appeal,” the Manasquan School District posted. “While we had hoped for a different outcome, we now turn our full attention to supporting our girls’ basketball team in [Saturday’s] championship game.”

In its decision, according to NJ.com, the NJ Superior Court acknowledged Manasquan’s disappointment, but declined its petition: “While the consequences of a particular call may be unfortunate for a team, the NJSIAA’s regulations recognize the reality that game officials’ calls are frequently disputed, and that permitting such calls to be challenged on the basis of error would result in ongoing litigation, appeals, and scheduling issues, since no game could be considered final if its outcome is disputed in court as a result of an alleged error by officials.”