Basketball Tournament Rules

I. About the Rules

1. Anything not covered by special tournament rules will be in accordance with the TSSAA.
2. The following rules are applicable for all grade levels unless otherwise noted.

II. General Rules & Regulations

1. The home team is listed on the top of the left side of the schedule, wears light-colored jerseys, and sits to the left of the scorer’s table (if facing it & right side if beside it). Teams warm-up opposite their benches and shoot on that basket for the first half.
2. The home team will keep the official scorebook for the game.
3. A team must start the game with 5 players. Game time is forfeit time EXCEPT Friday night 6pm games may have a 10-minute grace period.
4. Size of Ball: 6th grade boys and above will use a 29.5” ball while 5th grade boys and below and all girls divisions will use a 28.5” ball.
5. Players and coaches are expected to show good sportsmanship at all times, including the shaking of hands after the game. Spectators will not be allowed to harass players from the opposing team or officials.

III. Game Length

Clock:

A game consists of two halves of 20 minutes with a continuous running clock stopping only for the following conditions:

1. The clock will stop on all referee’s whistles during the last two minutes of each half.
2. A referee’s whistle for injuries.
3. A granted timeout by either team
4. Any other delay deemed necessary by the officials (Game equipment problem, etc.)

Timeouts:

Each team is entitled to two one-minute time outs per half. Un-used time outs do NOT carry over to the second half.

Overtime Rules:

1. If the score is tied at the end of regulation, one additional period of 2-minutes will be played.
2. If the score remains tied after one overtime period, a second un-timed overtime period will be played with the first team to score declared the winner.
3. Since overtime is an extension of the second half, each team will receive one additional timeout, plus any second half timeouts not yet used. No extra timeouts are issued for the sudden death period, however; previously un-used 2nd half/overtime timeouts may be called.

IV. Mercy Rule (15 points or more)

Running Clock: The clock will run under 2-minutes in the game if a team is winning by 15 or more points.

V. Tie Breakers

Will be determined as follows:

1. Head-to-Head
2. Point Differential (30 point max on wins and losses)
3. Points Scored
4. Coin Toss

VI. Division Winners

1. The winning team and runner-up in each division will be awarded a championship trophy or medal

VII. Registering a Protest

1. Playing on 2 teams in the same age group: Players CANNOT play for 2 teams in the same grade level. It does not matter if they are separate pools within the age group. No player can play on 2 teams at the same grade level. However, a player can play his or her age level and then play up a grade on a different team. For example, a 7th grader can play in a 7th grade division and also play up on a team in the 8th grade division, but that player CANNOT play on 2 teams at the 7th grade level.
2. Age/Grade Level Exception Explanation: Before protesting, please know that we allow 2 age & grade level exceptions in our basketball tournaments provided those players meet the requisite age requirement. Meaning that 2 players can be in the grade above but within the typical age of the grade he/she is playing. For the grade level exception, the child must not turn the older age before August 1. For example, if a child is playing in the 3rd grade division but is in 4th grade, he must not turn 10 years old until August 1 to be eligible.
3. Protest Process: A protest of a particular player must be made by the opposing team’s head coach and team’s must submit a protest fee of $100 PRIOR to the game. The fee will only be refunded if the player is deemed ineligible.  Teams being protested must produce a legal birth certificate and/or form of ID showing the players date of birth or report card showing grade for the player being challenged. Failure to produce the proper documentation will result in an automatic player disqualification for that particular player from any further games within the tournament. In the event of an accusation of a player playing on 2 teams at the same grade level a photo of the child on the other team must be shown prior to tipoff.
4. **** We do NOT do grade checks for high school players. High School divisions are more about skill level than by grade. Obviously a player is not allowed to be older than a current senior, but we will not do grade checks for 9-12th graders since high school basketball puts all ages together at the school level. We ask that teams stay within grades when labeled but we will not penalize a team, for example, in the JV boys division playing an 11th grader on the team.