The Dumas Bobcats defeated the Lake Village Beavers 44-41 to remain undefeated Friday, December 10, 2021 at Lake Village.
Bottom line, the trio of basketball officials, one woman and two men, at Lake Village Friday night were worse than awful. They were among the worst officials I've seen in over 45 years of writing high school sports.
They had no idea what a charge or blocking foul was. They allowed the game to turn into a goal line football game. The lady official blew three consecutive calls in a row in the senior boy's contest with less then a minute to play, which gave Lake Village the chance to win on a last second shot, however they missed. She seemed much more concerned with the fans admonishing her for her absurd calls then what was going on in the games. My thoughts there is call the game correctly and you won't get yelled at by people in the bleachers. Not saying call it our way. Just call it even, by the rules and get rid of your snap judgment calls. They are usually wrong.
Great example, late in the senior boys game, Bobcat (#1) Mike Reddick grabbed a loose ball in the paint, dribbled while moving laterally. A defender dived at Reddick's legs, attempting to knock the ball away. The lady official blew her whistle and called charging on Reddick. A terrible call, that had to be predetermined in the mind of the official. Because no charge occurred, not even close.
The officials lost control of the clock, allowing the hometown clock keeper to let seconds tick off at the end of the senior girls game. Should have been six seconds left on the clock, however the clock was allowed to run down to two seconds, preventing the Ladycats from having any chance to win the game. Dumas coaches asked the officials to adjust the clock. They only shrugged, as did the clock keeper.
Beside the absurd officiating, both girls and boys Lake Village teams had to set the state record in bank in shots. In the basketball shooting Game of Horse, you have to call those bank shots or they don't count.
Conclusion: Anything can happen, usually not good, in a close game played away on the road.
Bobcat Head Basketball Coach Larry Harris starters include: (#1) junior Mike Reddick, (#2) senior Derrick Lee, (#4) sophomore Tommy Reddick, (#10) sophomore Joseph Jones, (#32) senior Kavion Beavers.
No Lake Village roster was available.
Senior Kavion Beavers scored a bucket to get the Bobcats on the scoreboard early in the first period. Beavers scored four points in the first, while Tommy Reddick scored a bucket and hit a 3-pointer. Joseph Jones added a basket in the stanza.
At the end of the first period, the score was Dumas 11, Lake Village 11.
Tommy Reddick hit a pair of free-throws to open the Dumas second period, followed by Mike Reddick scoring nine straight points. Tommy Reddick added another bucket before half
At the half: Dumas 23, Lake Village 17
Mike Reddick led the way in the Dumas third period scoring 11 points, while Beavers added a basket to go with a basket by Tommy Reddick to set the score going into the fourth period: Dumas 38, Lake Village 32.
The fourth period was a brawling struggle as the officials lost control of the contest and blew multiple calls.
Mike Reddick made four free-throws to lead the Bobcats in the period, while Jones add a bucket before fouling out on a bogus call in the paint.
The Beavers outscored the Bobcats 9-6 in the final eight minutes and thanks to extremely poor officiating got off two desperation shots that both rimed out.
Final Score: Dumas 44, Lake Village 41.
Mike Reddick led the Bobcats with 24 points including one 3-pointer, while Tommy Reddick scored nine points including a 3-pointer.
Kavion Beavers added six points, while Joseph Jones chipped in four points and Samuel Mondragon made one free-throw.
The Bobcats shot 53% from the free-throw line, making eight of 15 attempts.
The Beavers shot 40% from the line, making eight of 20 attempts.
