Indiana Basketball Team Mercilessly Booed For Failed Attempt To Exploit Shot Clock At State Championship

Crown Point could not hold off Mt. Vernon during the high school basketball state championship game in Indiana. The Bulldogs tried to exploit the lack of shot clock to defend their lead by stalling on offense.

It backfired.

An attempt to kill as much time as possible during the high school basketball title game did not lead to victory. A late comeback proved to be the difference.

Indiana does not use a shot clock.

18 states do not use a shot clock for high school basketball. This is one of the most debated topics in sports during the month of March.

Indiana, which calls itself the Basketball State, is one of those 18 states without a shot clock.

A shot clock requires teams to shoot within a set period of time— 35 seconds. To play without a shot clock allows the offense to hold possession. The offensive player must pass the ball if the defense applies pressure within six feet for five seconds but the offense is still not required to shoot.

That gives the team in the lead the opportunity to prevent a comeback by stalling. It can possess the ball for an extended period of time to stop the losing team from getting shots up on the other end.

The argument against a shot clock is rooted in quality of play and finances.

A 35-second count forces a bad team to take even more bad shots. If a bad team is playing a far superior opponent, an increase in bad shots would allow scores to get even more lopsided.

The level of play will not improve with a shot clock. A shot clock is also expensive.

Many smaller schools cannot afford to install a proper clock system. They would also have to pay an extra official just to watch the clock at every game. That can add up over the course of an entire season!

However, the implementation of a universal shot clock would prevent what happened during the Class 4A state championship game.

Crown Point lost the high school basketball state championship.

Crown Point High School enrolls approximately 2,800 students in Grades 9-12. Mt. Vernon High School enrolls approximately 1,500 students in Grades 9-12.

Both high school basketball programs compete on the Class 4A level of competition. The Bulldogs (25-1) faced the Marauders (28-3) in the championship game on Saturday.

It was a packed house at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Crown Point held a lead over Mt. Vernon for the entire first half and the majority of the third quarter.

And then it suddenly decided to stop playing basketball and to start playing keep-away.

Boos rained down on the Bulldogs. They held the ball at the top of the key for more than a minute.