3-man crews, shot clocks and other rules

For many of the smaller schools in Idaho, getting used to three-man officiating crews will be an adjustment next season, after having their games officiated by two refs for years.

The Genesis Prep boys, who won their second straight state 1A Division II boys basketball championship on Saturday, is one of the rare small schools in Idaho to travel out of state and out of region, to some states that already use three-man crews.

Jaguars coach Marsell Colbert said his team played roughly half its games this year in front of three-man crews.

“Honestly, we don’t care if it’s two-man or three-man, we just play,” Colbert said. “It has its advantages, and it also has its disadvantages. Disadvantage is, two-man can’t really see what’s going on. But at the same time, if you’re used to playing with two referees, you adjust how you play. You can’t get accustomed to getting fouls (called) that you would get from a three-man crew. Four eyes can’t see better than six eyes.”

NEARBY, JAGUARS assistant Nate Thoreson mentioned a shot clock — another hot-button topic, something used in some other states, but is not used in Idaho.

“Now, that right there (a shot clock) would be the cure-all,” Colbert said. “I could care less about a two- or three-man officiating crew; you’ve just got to play. You get a shot clock, now, that’s where the game speeds up, you’ve got to start thinking about possessions, whereas now you don’t have to think about all that stuff. But, we play both — with a shot clock and without a shot clock. We’ll play whenever, wherever and however.

“It’ll be interesting to see how teams in the smaller divisions, that normally don’t see three-man, adjust to playing with three-man crews. We’re fortunate to have been able to play with two-man and three-man crews.

District 1 has used three-man crews for many games over the last decade at the 5A and 4A level.

This season, some of the smaller schools have gotten the three-man treatment — the 1A Division II District 1 title game between Genesis Prep and Lakeside was worked by three officials.

“We get home games where we’ve had three-man officials, depending on who we’re playing,” Colbert said. “When we go to Washington, it’s three-man, when we go to Montana it’s three-man, when we go to California it’s three-man. I think Idaho’s the only state where it’s split, three-man up North, and two-man from Lewiston on down.”

NEXT YEAR, unless something happens, Genesis Prep will have the play by different rules as far as personnel as well.

Last fall the Idaho High School Activities Association voted in the so-called “Genesis Prep rule” effective beginning the 2018-19 school year — meaning, international (F-1 visa) students can play during the regular season, but are ineligible for district or state tournament competition.

It’s a rule some feel is arbitrary, others feel is necessary.

In the three seasons Genesis Prep has been eligible to compete in the postseason, the Jaguar boys have finished third, first and first at state. The Genesis Prep girls were third last year and second this year.

There’s no doubt international players have helped the Jaguar teams at state. The best player on the girls team the past three seasons is from Rwanda. On the boys side, you could argue the Jaguars could have won state this year with just its homegrown players.

In any event, as Genesis Prep continues to dominate the North Star League, the debate rages on.

After Saturday morning’s state championship victory over Carey, many folks came up to Colbert in the long hallway that leads to the locker rooms at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa, and congratulated him on another state title. They didn’t have to; they could have just kept walking.

Others, well …

“I don’t want to get into the politics of things, but they’ll find a way to get around that (new rule),” said longtime Dietrich coach Wayne Dill, whose team won the state title in 2016 when Genesis Prep finished third, fell to the Jaguars in last year’s state title game, and lost to Genesis Prep in this year’s semifinals. “We have plenty of kids in the United States that are troubled kids, or looking for another chance. There’s opportunity to bring kids in from anywhere you want to in the United States. The rule doesn’t have anything to do with that. So there’s ways to get around that.

“But you’re right that (the rule change) is beneficial to us, I’ll be the first to admit that. It’s not quite fair. We’re not crying sour grapes. We have 61 kids in this high school — 25 boys. We pull from 25 boys that have grown up on the farm and everything out there, and I’m real proud of them. They worked hard, and we’ve put in a good program in which kids come and work at their game. And I hope we work at it hard enough next year where we can get back here again.”

After Saturday’s title game, Colbert had praise for Carey, which the Jaguars beat at state last year as well.

“Hat’s off to Carey, they’re just a classy basketball team, classy school,” Colbert said. “I really appreciate their love. They were competitive, but when it was over, there was no bitterness. That’s refreshing.”

Asked about Genesis Prep after the title game, Carey coach Dick Simpson responded, “You know what, they are a deep 1A DII school. So you play the hand you’re dealt … that’s the way it is.”

Mark Nelke is sports editor of the Press. He can be reached by phone at (208) 664-8176, ext. 2019, or via email at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at CdAPressSports.