Manasquan/Camden controversy unpacked: What few in NJ are willing to say

A lot of people have their opinions about why the Manasquan High School boys' basketball team got robbed last week.

In case you missed it, Manasquan was playing Camden High in the state semi-finals. Manasquan scored a buzzer-beater at the last second, which was initially called a good basket that would have resulted in a Manasquan victory.

However, after the Camden assistant coach went to the scorer's table to complain to the refs, the call was reversed and it was decided the basket didn't count and Camden won, moving on to the Group 2 state finals.

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The referee who reversed the call admitted to the mistake minutes after the game.
The governor even weighed in and admitted the Manasquan team was robbed.

"Based on all the objective observations, the last-second shot by that kid went in. It left his hand rather before the buzzer. So I feel very badly for the players and coaches and their families that had one snatched from them," Murphy said Thursday.

The governing body, the NJSIAA, admitted the refs blown call but said that once the refs leave the court the call cannot be reversed and video replay is not allowed.

The story made national headlines. People all over New Jersey were angry that such a blatant mistake was made and left to stand.

In an ever more polarized society, many things boil down to race, religion, or ethnic origin. It's a shame that it does, but it does. It seems like 25 or 30 years ago we had moved beyond this point, but sadly we've slid back into a further divide, fueled by politics and the media.

What few in the media want to discuss are the reasons many believe this bad call was made. The Manasquan team is all white. The Camden team is all minority. Two of the three refs were minorities. Naturally, with such a blatant error, many people thought race came into the decision.

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Add to that Camden's reputation for not always playing by the rules. They were pulled from the tournament last year following a game-ending brawl. 

Perhaps the ref who reversed the call wanted to avoid another volatile reaction.
The Camden basketball team found itself in hot water in 2022 due to a recruiting scandal. 

Lots of people thought it would have been a good gesture by the Camden coach to forfeit the game after it was clearly demonstrated that they lost the game. Almost no one in sports is willing to do something like that, and they didn't.

They instead went on to win their next game against Newark Arts giving them the Group 2 title for their 13th straight state title on Saturday.

The players from the Manasquan team were in the stands and gave the Camden team a standing ovation following their victory. Which group of kids would most decent people want their child to be on? The high road is not always an easy journey but it's the best way to travel through life.

In an age when more and more people see that the truth is not always respected, that winning fair and square is not always recognized, and that merit is overruled by the purported virtuous notion of the day, life can get pretty frustrating and infuriating.

The bottom line is that life isn't always fair and that doing the right thing always produces a better result in the long run, beating out any championship, trophies or public recognition.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Dennis Malloy only.

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