The crowd is on its feet, yelling and screaming at the referees, convinced they are either incompetent, biased or an unholy amalgam of both.
The coach of Team X fuels the fire by pacing the sidelines and mouthing off with a persecution complex the size of Mount McKinley.
Team Z's coach is just as vocal, worried that all the complaining by Team X and its fans will start swaying calls for the home team.
All the while, 10 players are running up and down the court, every dribble of the ball potentially leading to a whistle and a ruling -- from the routine to the obscure.
Such is the life of a basketball referee -- any game official, really. It's usually a thankless job, one difficult to fill with qualified people.
This winter, the need and opportunity came together to help address the official shortfall at Service High.
During the second semester, Ken Wooster, a teacher, basketball ref and baseball coach, introduced a course on the basics of officiating.
The idea was part inspiration, part desperation.
"One morning the head counselor was saying, 'I wish we had some other elective we could do in the second half of the day so we could take some of the burden off the other classes,' " Wooster recalled last month as the school year wrapped up.
"I, just off the top of my head, suggested, 'Have you ever thought about teaching a sports officiating class?' "
In a matter of days, the idea went from "what if?" to two full classes of would-be umps and refs.
"It worked so well on several different levels," Wooster said. "It hits on school-to-work (paying gigs are available), it's flexible, it's part time, kids can do it, and they can do it in college."
The course also filled a hole at Service for more afternoon electives for freshmen. More than 80 percent of the students taking the class were ninth graders.
"It teaches a lot of things too," Wooster said. "You have to be a people person. You have to be able to negotiate with players and coaches and know the rules and apply the rules in a variety of situations.
"The rule book is black and white. (But) there's the spirit of the law and the letter of the law. It can be very flexible when it needs to be, and that's really judgment."
Wooster taught students the basketball rule book, signals used by referees in games and dissected game film -- not of players but of officials including Wooster, a 15-year veteran ref.
"I really didn't understand it because I didn't play basketball," 15-year-old Vanessa Heinrich said. "I did learn some stuff. I learned all the signs, how points are scored."
Later in the semester the focus shifted to baseball and softball.
Students were encouraged to apply their theoretical knowledge by officiating a live game --for double credit, no less -- but no one worked up the nerve to do so, at least not yet.
"I got into it because my dad was officiating when he was in high school," 14-year-old Willie Overbaugh said. "Baseball, basketball, a lot of different sports.
"I kind of wanted to make money, and one of my friend's dad refs, and he told me they got paid $30, $40, $60 a game. So I was like, 'Let's make some money.' "
Overbaugh also attended some baseball umpiring clinics and is volunteering at Little League games, hoping to parlay that into a paying gig next year.
Several other students attended games and produced written critiques of officials, or filmed local games for class discussion.
"There's a number of kids who got a look from the other side of the field, so to speak," Wooster said. "They were put in spots where they had to make the tough call on their friends in a game. It's not easy."
One point of emphasis centered on dealing with abusive players, coaches -- even fans and parents.
"Let's say difficult. Or loud," Wooster said diplomatically. "We have a list of possible responses to varying situations. You want to listen to the coach. You want to give them a little bit of time, but you can't stop the game and just do that.
"They want you to hear them, so you have to listen a little bit. Most of the time if you listen, they'll quiet down. (But) there are some lines in the sand. There are certain things that will get you ejected."
The biggest challenge for an aspiring umpire or referee, according to Overbaugh, is overcoming the dichotomy of a teenager being the strong arm of the law over adults.
"Reffing's easy. All you have to do is read some books and do some games," he said. "Having the guts to go out there and talk to the people, because sometimes they don't take you seriously because you're only 14" is hard.
Wooster's class has dealt with that, and produced some bonuses -- including the ability to watch sports with a more critical eye.
"I watched that same game, and I knew what they were doing," said Heinrich, referring to a Mets-Yankees game the class had critiqued earlier in the day. "It was awesome. It does make it fun."
Said Overbaugh: "When I play with my brother, he's always trying to cheat on me, and I'm like 'You can't do that anymore! I know!' "
Wooster hopes to expand the scope of the class next year, incorporating soccer, football and hockey.
"I think this first year we got a start," he said. "We'll make adjustments and it will be better next time. I would like to make it a requirement that the kids have to do a couple of games to get that experience. That would be my wish.
"Once they get out on the court and cross that barrier, they'll see it's not that hard, especially with kids' games."
Find Andrew Hinkelman online at adn.com/contact/ahinkelman or call 257-4335.
