Boys’ basketball: Sweeney livid about officiating

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King Coach Tim Sweeney Jr. said this game was over before it started.

Because of the officiating.

The Wolves received three of the four technical fouls called tonight during a 53-39 loss to Westchester in the Southern California Division I regional championship at Pauley Pavilion, including a bizarre pregame technical for dunking in warmups.

Sweeney received a technical in the second quarter after arguing a foul on star forward Kawhi Leonard and was ejected between the third and fourth quarters after receiving a second technical.

‘This game was decided before it started, and that was a shame,’ Sweeney said.

Sweeney described the pregame technical, on sophomore Adam Smith, as a ‘phantom technical on a dunk that did not happen,’ and said his second technical resulted from a conversation between two assistant coaches overheard by an official.

As a result of the technicals, Sweeney said, his team was taken out of its rhythm. ‘I could not stand up and coach my team because of the technical fouls,’ he said. ‘The whole rhythm and flow of the ballgame was affected.’

Sweeney also made a point of crediting Westchester, whose varied defenses perplexed the Wolves. But even Comets Coach Ed Azzam seemed to acknowledge that the technicals were a factor.

‘It was a bad start to the game for them and they just never quite got into it,’ Azzam said. ‘It seemed to deflate them a little early in the game, but I think it had more to do with our defense.’

Westchester swingman Dwayne Polee also received a technical for hanging on the rim during a spectacular alley-oop dunk in the second quarter, but the Comets had already taken a 13-point lead by then and were well on their way to victory.

Asked about the pregame technical, Azzam said: ‘It’s very unusual to see something like that in a game like this.’

--Ben Bolch