The Case of the Missing Point : Girls basketball: Bookkeeping costs Washington High School a point in an overtime loss to Brea-Olinda.

It’s tough enough to lose a close basketball game on the road against a nationally ranked team, but imagine losing in overtime, knowing that your team would have won if a point had not mysteriously vanished during regulation play?

Washington High girls’ Coach Phil Chase is left with just that after losing to undefeated Brea-Olinda, 59-56, in overtime Saturday night in Brea.

With Brea-Olinda, the sixth-ranked team in the nation, according to USA Today, trailing the No. 13 Generals by 10 points at the end of the third quarter, Chase noticed Washington was missing a point. He protested that the score should be 45-34, instead of the official scorer’s 44-34.

Chase claimed there was a free throw that was not counted, but officials disagreed after checking with running scores of the official scorer from Brea-Olinda and the visiting scorer from Washington, who both had 44-34.

The point proved critical to Washington, the top-rated team in the City, when Brea-Olinda rallied to send the game into overtime on Aimee McDaniel’s three-point basket with 10 seconds remaining in regulation. The Wildcats, the top team in the Southern Section, took control in overtime when Washington’s top players, center Charisse Sampson and guard Detra Lockhart, fouled out.

After reviewing film of the game Sunday morning, Brea-Olinda Coach Mark Trakh agreed that Washington lost a point, but he said that it was unintentional.

“I checked the tape of the game and they should have had 45 at the end of the third quarter instead of 44,” Trakh said. “It is unfortunate that a thing like this happened, but it was an honest mistake. This really takes away from the efforts by both teams.

“I didn’t notice the mistake at the time, but the referee checked with both scorekeepers and they had the same total.”

Chase, whose Generals also lost to Brea-Olinda in the championship game of a tournament in Santa Barbara early this season, said: “The person sitting there was just copying what the Brea scorekeeper was putting down. I keep score for us on the bench and I noticed the error.”

Chase does not plan to protest as Washington (14-3) heads into City Southern Pacific Conference play.

“If you’re 10 points ahead, you shouldn’t lose anyway,” Chase said. “It was a fun and exciting game between two good teams and it shows that we can play with them. Hopefully, losing this game makes the kids more dedicated to reach their goals.”

When told of Chase’s response, Trakh replied: “I would only hope that I would respond like (Chase) did, but in a case like this, I don’t think that I would.”