New Jersey Commissioner of Education denies Manasquan School District an appeal of NJSIAA’s decision

The New Jersey Department of Education’s commissioner on Friday denied the Manasquan Board of Education’s appeal regarding the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s decision to allow Camden High to compete in Saturday’s state championship game despite this week’s controversial finish.

Tuesday night against Camden, Manasquan appeared to score the winning basket in the waning seconds of the NJSIAA Group 2 boys’ semifinals before referees convened and waved off the basket, saying it occurred after the final buzzer. As a result, Camden won, 46-45.

Video evidence shows the basket should have counted, which NJSIAA later admitted the referees’ error in a statement earlier this week.

Manasquan’s BOE later filed suit to seek a temporary postponement of Saturday’s championship game at Rutgers against Newark’s Arts High School.

An Ocean County judge later denied the request and referred the case to acting commissioner Kevin Dehmer, who on Friday declined to intervene and also declined to hear an appeal on the matter.

According to a letter released on social media by the Manasquan School District, Dehmer wrote, “The commissioner cannot find that the officials’ decision regarding the basket was anything other than a judgment call, and the NJSIAA rules clearly state that once an official has made a judgment call, no appeals will be honored. Even if the officials’ decision was not correct, under the clear and explicit bylaws of the NJSIAA, it is not reviewable.”

In a statement from Camden City School District’s attorney, Louis Cappelli Jr., on behalf of the district, he wrote that it’s “frivolous” and “baseless” for a courtroom to debate a high school basketball game.

“This is youth sports we are talking about, and I think the score in any high school game should be left with the referees,” Cappelli stated. “In all sports, athletes are subject to human decisions that are often made in a split-second, especially at the high school level. That is the nature of team athletic competition. In this case, the referees did their best to make the right call. It is not clear if the scoreboard clock was the official clock and whether the clock started in a timely fashion after the previous foul shot. Humans did their best to make the right call.”