Be the Referee: Hoops Officials Manual
February 20, 2020
This week, MHSAA officials coordinator Sam Davis announces the addition of a new resource to assist basketball officials across the state.
Be The Referee is a series of short messages designed to help educate people on the rules of different sports, to help them better understand the art of officiating, and to recruit officials.
Below is this week's segment - Basketball Officials Manual - Listen
High School basketball officials in Michigan have a new resource to help them better understand all aspects of their role.
The new Basketball Officials Manual is available in a hard copy format from the MHSAA Office, and can also be downloaded from the MHSAA Website for handheld device use.
The book emphasizes and promotes consistency in rules knowledge and application, theory and philosophy and mechanics and signals.
This uniform approach will help assure MHSAA member schools and teams they can rely on the same approach to officiating, regardless of where they are located in our great state.
The basketball book is the first in a series of such sports-specific manuals. A hard copy can be ordered for $10, and the PDF download is free.
Past editions
Feb. 13: Held Ball or Traveling - Listen
Feb. 6: Hockey Rules Chart - Listen
Jan. 30: Cheer Safety - Listen
Jan. 23: Goaltending - Listen
Jan. 16: Wrestling Tie-Breaker - Listen
Jan. 9: Pregame Meeting - Listen
Dec. 19: Alternating Possession - Listen
Dec. 12: Ratings - Listen
Dec. 5: Video Review Success - Listen
Nov. 28: More Injury Time - Listen
Nov. 21: Football Review - Listen
Nov. 14: Sideline Safety - Listen
Nov. 7: Officials Playlist - Listen
Oct. 31: Most Important Line - Listen
Oct. 24: Automatic 1st Downs - Listen
Oct. 17: Catch Momentum - Listen
Oct. 10: Golf Rules Changes - Listen
Oct. 3: No Tackle Box - Listen
Sept. 26: You Make the Overtime Call - Listen
Sept. 19: Swimming Finishing Touch - Listen
Sept. 12: Curbing Gamesmanship By Substitution - Listen
Sept. 5: Football Safety Rules Changes - Listen
Aug. 29: 40-Second Play Clock - Listen
After Lead Fades, Concord Stays Together to Stop Reigning Champ Tri-Unity in OT
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 12, 2026
EAST LANSING — Dethroning a champion is never easy, a fact Concord found out first-hand against Wyoming Tri-unity Christian in a Division 4 Semifinal on Thursday.
Concord jumped out to a big halftime lead and remained ahead by nine points late in the fourth quarter, but were stunned when Tri-unity Christian junior Cody Osbun forced overtime with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer during the final second of regulation at Breslin Center.
But in a credit to its resolve, Concord refocused and ended Tri-unity’s pursuit of a third-straight title, ending the game on an 11-0 run to earn a thrilling 50-40 overtime victory.
Concord (24-4) advanced to meet Detroit Douglass in the Division 4 Final at 10 a.m. Saturday in what will be its first championship game appearance.
“That was one of the hardest games we’ve ever had to play,” Concord head coach Marcus Gill said. “Hats off to them. That is a great team and a great program, perennial power. They are here every year. We just wanted to come out and be us.”
After Concord senior Jett Smith split a pair of free throws with 4.2 seconds left in regulation to give the Yellowjackets a 38-35 lead, Tri-unity (25-2) put the ball in the hands of Osbun, who drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key as time expired to tie the game at 38-38 and force overtime.
“That was actually a botched play,” Osbun said. “We had a different play where I was supposed to get the ball at half (court), which I did, but we were supposed to have someone running down far and I was supposed to pitch it up to him. But they were face-guarding them. So I just turned and subconsciously threw up a shot, and it just happened to go in.”
Tri-unity Christian then took its first and only lead of the game at 40-39 with 2:29 remaining in overtime on a basket by senior Nolan DeMots.
From there, Concord took over.
Senior Connor Stevens hit a layup with 1:54 remaining to give Concord a 41-40 lead, and then freshman Zack Stevens made two free throws with 1:33 left push the margin to three.
Two more free throws by Connor Stevens with 1:00 remaining made it 45-40 Concord. Following a couple of stops, Concord then took a 48-40 lead with 18 seconds to go on two free throws by Smith.
“I couldn’t be prouder of a group of guys for standing together,” Gill said. “Some guys are not together after having that meltdown in the second half. There’s no way a team that’s not together would have won that overtime. So proud of these guys for staying together and being who we are all year.”
Stevens had 16 points and 10 rebounds and Smith added 13 points for Concord, which came out attacking and aggressive, taking an 18-5 lead after the first quarter and going up 29-13 by halftime.
Concord held a 37-28 lead late in the fourth quarter, but Tri-unity Christian cut its deficit to 37-35 with 48.2 seconds remaining in the game on a 3-pointer by senior Clayton Rowlader, a layup by junior Jake VanKlompenberg and a putback basket by Osbun.
Osbun had 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead Tri-unity.
“Obviously we would have liked to have gotten off to a better start,” said Tri-unity first-year head coach Brent Voorhees, who took over this year after the retirement of longtime coach Mark Keeler. “But the kids you saw in that second half, that’s who we are. That’s Tri-unity basketball. That’s the guys that I coached all year.”
PHOTOS (Top) Concord players including Brady Garrett (4) celebrate during the Yellow Jackets’ Division 4 Semifinal win Thursday. (Middle) Darrell Dean Jr. (10) drives to the basket with Tri-unity’s Andrew Hofmann (24) defending. (Photos by Adam Sheehan/Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)