The morning after, it still doesn’t make sense to Andrew Bilodeau.
His Manasquan HS basketball team should be playing in the Group 2 finals Saturday at Rutgers instead of having an end-of-the-season meeting Wednesday.
Instead, according to the longtime head coach, the prospect of a protest is “being looked into.”
It stems from a last-second shot by Griffin Lanstra, which seemingly gave Manasquan a one-point win over Camden, setting off pandemonium at Central Regional HS in Berkeley Township, N.J. on Tuesday night.
But, as Bilodeau recalled by phone Wednesday morning, a representative of NJSIAA met with the three on-court officials and the call was reversed, giving Camden a 46-45 win and a trip to the championship game.
“I still don’t know what happened,” Bilodeau told The Post. “I wish I could tell you. The basket was ruled good. It’s clear to see on the video. The place erupts. The official on site meets with the three officials. I don’t know what took place. They just said, ‘No basket, game over.’”
And just like that, Manasquan’s hopes of repeating as Group 2 champions were dashed.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Bilodeau said. “I’ve coached here 16 years and 30 years overall and nothing like that has ever happened.”
Thanks to video posted on social media, Bilodeau said he’s heard from plenty of other coaches and media outlets, but his main concern is for his team.
“Players were confused and heartbroken,” Bilodeau said. “It’s not something easily explained.”
Asked if there was the possibility of a protest, the coach said, “It’s something that’s being discussed and looked into. I believe an appeal was denied [Tuesday night]. We’ll see what happens.”
What’s unclear is what led to the changed call.
“It’s not a mistake,” Bilodeau said. “It was a reversal of a decision. What the impetus was, I have no idea. It wasn’t an error in operation. It’s not like there was a cup of water that spilled onto the court. It was a judgment call that was made and then reversed.”
One theory posted online was that the game clock was started before the play began. Bilodeau was aware of that narrative and dismissed it.
“That’s not true,” Bilodeau said. “That’s the easiest excuse in the world. Watch the video.”
A year ago, Manasquan won the Group 2 title, although it didn’t have to go through Camden since Camden had been disqualified from the tournament following a brawl in an earlier playoff game.
Now, Camden goes on and Manasquan tries to regroup as — rather than preparing for a title game — Bilodeau was getting ready for what he expected to be a tough meeting with his players Wednesday.
“Absolutely, it’s gonna be really difficult,” Bilodeau said. “They’re teenage boys that are very emotional and we have to assuage that. We’ll try to get the focus back on what they accomplished.”
His team has seven seniors and Bilodeau said they can all grow from this experience.
“It’s all good,” he said. “This is what you learn from athletics. We’ll be back at it.”
And his sympathy didn’t just extend to his own players.
“I’m heartbroken for the Camden kids, too,” Bilodeau said. “It’s not their fault and I don’t want this to taint their season. I hope it disappears quickly.”
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