High School Playoff Game Ends With Rare Double Court Storming After Officials Wave Off Presumed Buzzer-Beater

Minnesota high schools Albany and Melrose faced off on Friday with a section championship and a spot in the state tournament on the line. Albany had only 2.3 seconds left in the game to get up a game-winning shot after Melrose had just put themselves up by one point. Albany inbounded the ball to Andrew Hahn, whose buzzer-beating shot appeared to go in. The visual of the ball going into the net was good enough for the team’s student section to warrant a court-rush and celebrations began.

However, officials had still not given a decision on the shot. After some careful deliberation near the entrance of the court, the referee waved off the shot, which meant Melrose kept its 52-51 lead for the final score. Now that things were official, Melrose’s student section returned the favor to their opponents and stormed the court to celebrate with their team.

You may see the officials run off the court after the shot was made and think that that was a sign of the game being over. But according to National Federation of High School Basketball rules, the final score isn’t truly final until “all officials leave the visual confines of the playing area.”

Court storming is a lot like giving a coach a Gatorade bath at the end of a game. If you don’t want to look stupid, make sure your team is definitely the winner before going through with it.

h/t Matt