Eric Hayes is contemplating his next move after leaving Tasmania with questions over the ending of Saturday night’s South East Australian Basketball League game.
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The Ballarat Rush coach does not agree with the decision to overturn a foul call, which would have given the team a chance to win the game against Launceston.
Ballarat Skoda Rush lost the round eight clash by a point after an intense and controversial final minute.
With just 30 seconds left on the clock, Rush took the lead for the first time in the fourth term thanks to a jump shot made from Joy Burke, who plays under her Taiwanese name Hsi-Le Bao.
But Alex Wilson clinched back the lead for the Tornadoes when she made two shots from the free throw line – Launceston ended the night shooting at 100 per cent efficiency in this area, making all 16 free throw attempts.
With just 16 seconds to go after a timeout, Rush had one final chance at victory.
“Taylah (Wynne) got an open shot, it looked pretty straight, bounced out and Joy grabbed the rebound,” Hayes said.
“She was going back up with it, got fouled and the referee called the foul and the horn went in that time – they determined the horn went before the referee called the foul.”
Hayes is now hunting for some clear footage of the game’s final seconds before he makes up his mind on whether to contest the costly decision.
“I’ll see what I do, but I didn’t feel like it was the correct call,” he said.
“If we can prove it was a bad call it will be up to the league, but whether they would overturn a game I don’t know.
“Had we got the call that Joy was going to the free throw line for two shots, she is a pretty good free throw shooter so I would have liked her chances.”
But Hayes was proud of the players’ performances under the circumstances.
Import Courtney Williams top scored for Rush with 17 points and seven rebounds, Burke was impressive making a double-double of 16 points and 18 rebounds, while teenager Georgia Amoore had a game-high four steals.
Hayes also praised the efforts of captain Kristy Rinaldi, who he described as a rock for the team, and said Courtney Walker had been strong until some pretty tough foul calls ended her night.
“I just told them they did a really good job on the weekend and I loved the way they fought the game out,” he said.
“They could have easily said they were tired and not given the effort that they did to give us the chance to have a win,” he said.
“Hopefully we can just build on that as we go forward.”
