Yelling from his seat was not enough for the Corvallis dad late in a junior varsity boys’ basketball game at Anaconda’s Memorial Gymnasium.

He had to run down to the rail behind the scorer’s bench to let me know he did not like my call.

“You can’t decide the game like that,” he yelled before the Anaconda team inbounded the ball in the final seconds of a win. “You can’t decide the game like that.”

The first thing I thought was, “I used to joke that the Anaconda refs are the worst. Now I’m being accused of being one of them.”

I did not blame the father because he was sticking up for his son and his team. I am sure I have yelled out something very similar when watching my son play.

So, I just shrugged and we went on with the game.

The father was mad at me because I called a carry violation on a player from Corvallis as he dribbled around an Anaconda defender at center court. He carried the ball on his hip for three steps between dribbles.

It was the easiest call I made all game, and I reacted out of instinct.

When I administered the inbound pass just before the call, I knew that there were just 7.9 seconds to play and that Corvallis trailed by 3-points.

No matter what any fan might say, I did not care which team won the game. I also did not care if the game went into overtime and delayed the varsity game. The varsity officials — and a lot of the fans — don’t want to see overtime in a subvarsity game throw off the schedule, but I had nothing else to do.

What happened was I saw a clear violation, and I blew my whistle.

If I was going to call that carry in the first quarter, then I should definitely call it in the final seconds. Every second of the game is important, and the outcome of a game should never be blamed on one play or call.

Well, unless you’re talking about those calls in Lambeau Field.

It was December of 2022, and I was only a few games into my subvarsity high school refereeing career, but I knew that you don’t let violations go because it is near the end of the game. Plus, not calling that carry is a call, too. Ignoring the clear violation might have altered the outcome of the game the other way.

The fans from Corvallis didn’t see it that way. If it was the other way around, the Anaconda fans certainly would not have agreed with me, either.

That night, I went straight home and watched the end of the game on the NFHS Network. I was relieved to see that the film showed that the carry violation was as egregious as I thought in real time, so I was able to sleep that night.

I thought about the carry call Friday night when an illegal screen call allegedly “decided” the outcome of the Iowa-Connecticut semifinal game of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.

It was if the two teams didn’t play the other 39 minutes, 55 seconds.

The Washington Post headline read like it was written by that Corvallis dad.

“Illegal screen foul call helps decide Iowa’s win over Connecticut in Final Four.”

Social media was ablaze after UConn’s Aaliya Edwards was called for the offensive foul after colliding with Iowa guard Gabbie Marshall in the final seconds.

The call gave the ball back to Iowa, and the Hawkeyes won 71-69.

I was watching the Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Angels that night, so I didn’t watch most of the game. I have no idea how well or poorly the game was officiated (though I assume the NCAA assigned the best of the best), but everyone on Facebook and Twitter certainly had an opinion.

When I finally watched the play, my first thought was a line from Billy Maddison.

“That’s assault, brotha.”

It was clearly an illegal screen — even if the UConn player wouldn’t have give a little shove with her arms. An offensive player cannot move into a defender like that. She cannot extend her arms or legs past the frame of her body.

Plus, it was a play that looked more like a pulling guard and a shooting guard. No way would any decent official let that go even in a high school game.

This wasn’t a ticky-tacky call made by an official trying to “decide the game” just to get Iowa and superstar Caitlin Clark into the championship game. It was as obvious as a five-step traveling call.

That is a foul in the NBA, WNBA, college, high school, middle school and grade school. If you argue otherwise, then you were probably rooting for UConn.

Some people agreed that the call was obvious, and they still didn’t want the official to make that call. The problem wasn’t the call itself, but the timing of the call, they said.

Yes, it was a big call. It meant that UConn wouldn’t get a chance to get off a last-second shot to tie or win the game.

What if the official decided to swallow the whistle because it was the finals seconds, and that meant Paige Bueckers sank a game-winning shot as time expired?

That would have meant that Iowa was cheated because the referees ignored an obvious call.

Others argue that the NCAA is doing everything it can to make sure Clark and the Hawkeyes played in that championship game. If you believe that, then you probably will never be able to be convinced that we put a man on the moon in 1969 or that Lee Harvey Oswald actually was the lone shooter of John F. Kennedy.

Sure, Clark is good for ratings because she is the greatest scorer in the history of college basketball — male or female.

But if the NCAA was really into manipulating the outcome of games like the NBA, then it would have never put LSU on the same side of the bracket as Iowa.

A rematch between Clark and the Hawkeyes and Angel Reese and the Tigers in the championship game was the way to go if you are writing a script. That title game last year was fun — except for the part when people yelled at Reese for being a poor sport for make the exact gesture toward Clark that Clark made to her teammate earlier in the game.

If the script was for Clark to make the championship game, wouldn’t you think the screenwriters would have made sure her team won the title game? After all, even Stallone knew not to have Rocky get knocked out at the end.

Having conspiracy theories is fun. Sometimes there is even some truth to those crazy claims.

If you are using that illegal screen call as an example, however, then it is time to go back to the evidence board and rearrange your photos and strings.

No, I did not watch much of the game. Maybe the referees really did cheat all night long to get Iowa into the championship game.

Here is another thought, though. Maybe — just maybe — it was just a really good basketball game between two teams filled with talented young women playing their hearts out.

Maybe — just maybe — Caitlin Clark really is a good player on a really good team.

Maybe — just maybe — the referee who called the play was simply trying to be the best official possible, just like I was trying to do in Anaconda that night.

Hopefully that dad from Corvallis will see that someday.

— Bill Foley can be reached at foles74@gmail.com. Follow him at twitter.com/Foles74. Listen to him on the ButteCast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.