Ridgefield dominated Fairfield Warde during the high school basketball game in Connecticut on Saturday. However, the Tigers committed a blatant rule violation that went unchecked by the officials.
They appeared to substitute during a live ball.
Although this specific play did not have a direct impact on the outcome of the high school basketball game, it is astonishing that a technical foul was not called. Two foul shots and the ball can provide a serious boost of momentum for a team that trails its opponent!
Ridgefield got up big on Fairfield Warde.
Ridgefield High School enrolls approximately 1,400 students in Grades 9-12. It is located on the westernmost border of Connecticut as a member of the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference.
There is not even one single highway in Ridgefield so the road trip always takes twice as long as it should and visiting teams despite playing the Tigers for that reason. But I digress.
It was Fairfield Warde that made the treacherous trip on Saturday. Warde is one of two public high schools in Fairfield, with a total enrollment of approximately 1,400 students in Grades 9-12.
There is still a lot of high school basketball season left, but the Tigers entered the weekend at 6-3. The Mustangs entered at 4-5. They are now 7-3 and 4-6, respectively.
Ridgefield at one point went up by as many as 24 and took a 20-point lead into the locker room at halftime. However, Fairfield Warde would not go away.
The Mustangs fought back during the third quarter to get within 13. They were down by only six points with six minutes remaining in the game.
Connecticut high school basketball officials missed a clear substitution violation.
Although Ridgefield held on to win the game by a final score of 69-59, Fairfield Warde missed out on an opportunity for a seven- or eight-point swing during the third quarter. The officials didn’t pay attention.
The Tigers had the ball on offense but they had only four players on the court. Head coach Andrew McClellan sent a fifth player onto the court once he realized his mistake.
“We’ve got four guys out there,” he can be heard saying to the bench.
The fifth player was Patrick Foley, who immediately hit a three-pointer to extend the lead at the time.
The basketball version of a trick play? Ridgefield runs an offense with four players, realizes it and brings in Patrick Foley, who hits the 3-point shot against Fairfield Warde.#ridgefield #trickplay #foley pic.twitter.com/shxJbP0Gtf
— The Ruden Report (@DaveRuden) January 24, 2026
As far as I understand it, that illegal substitution should’ve been called as a technical foul. The basket shouldn’t have counted, the Mustangs would’ve received two foul shots and the ball.
According to NFHS rules, substitutions can only happen during a dead ball, after the official allows for the substitute to enter the game. Teams cannot throw a fifth player onto the court during a live play. They must wait for a dead ball to substitute.
If a player enters the court during live play, that should be ruled as an illegal substitution. An illegal substitution results in a technical foul.
Assuming my understanding of the rules are correct, Ridgefield should’ve been called for a technical. That would’ve taken three points off of the board, giving a chance for as many as five points to Fairfield Warde. If Warde made both shots and hit a triple on the next possession, that would’ve been an eight-point swing. The game was decided by 10 points.