Schools
Principal: Fair Lawn High Intended to Participate in Basketball State Tournament But Made 'Clerical Error'
The New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association said that Fair Lawn High School's boys basketball team was not eligible for the state tournament based on the "intent form" signed by school officials
UPDATED 10:45 a.m. Tuesday with comment from Principal James Marcella
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"intended to participate" in the basketball state tournament but made a clerical error when submitting a form to the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, according to high school Principal James Marcella.
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"It was a clerical error on our part," Marcella wrote in an email to Patch.
The boys basketball team—whose record was slightly below .500 at the state tournament cutoff—will not play in the tournament because the school sent in a form expressing the intent not to enter with a losing record, NJSIAA Assistant Director Larry White said in a phone interview.
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White explained that schools can submit two different "intent forms" regarding the state tournament: a form stating the intent to enter with a record of .500 or even a sub-.500 mark before the cutoff, or a form with intent to only enter the tournament with a record of .500 or better at the cutoff.
On the cutoff date of Feb. 7, Fair Lawn High faxed the NJSIAA the latter form for both the boys and girls basketball teams signed by Marcella and Athletic Director Cory Robinson, White said.
"That's how we take it, that you only wanted to get in [to the state tournament] if you were .500 or better," he said.
Robinson did not return a request for comment.
The boys basketball team had a 7-9 record at the cutoff and was 9-10 following Saturday's 59-56 win over Garfield at the Bergen Invitational Tournament. At the game, Fair Lawn Coach Jim Ponchak told NorthJersey.com that when the team was informed on Friday that it would not play in the states, his players were distraught and it was "a devastating blow for the program."
“I had told the kids we were in the State, because we had the record to be [one of the 16 seeds]," Ponchak said. "And practice was very difficult. I have nine seniors on my team who had never played in the State tournament.”
Ponchak did not return a request for comment from Patch.
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