GENERAL BASKETBALL RULES
Mid State Sports Leagues uses TSSAA Basketball Rules in governing all league and tournament games. The following rules have been modified or added to fit our co-ed league.
NUMBER OF PLAYERS TO START AND FINISH
Teams may start and finish a game with four players. 3 male players and 2 female players are required on the court. If a team only has 1 female present then they must play with only 4 players (3 males and 1 female) on the court. Teams who are short a player can pick-up a player from another team, but the same player cannot play with a team other than their own team more than once. In the playoffs, teams MUST have 2 females to avoid a forfeit. Game time is forfeit time, DON’T BE LATE!!!
SCORING
Males will be awarded 1 point for a made free throw, 2 points for a made shot inside the three-point line, and 3 points for a made shot outside of the three-point line.
Females will be awarded an additional free throw per shooting opportunity (i.e. fouled while shooting, fouled in a bonus situation, or fouled in a double-bonus situation), 3 points for a made shot inside the three-point line, and 4 points for a made shot outside of the three-point line.
GAME CLOCK
The length of the game is forty minutes, divided into two halves of twenty minutes with a running clock. The clock will be a regulation clock during the final two minutes of each half.
FOULS
Each team will be in the bonus at seven team fouls and the double bonus at ten team fouls. Players will be removed with five fouls in any one game.
FREE THROWS
Players can leave their position on the block ON THE RELEASE of the shooter.
HOME TEAM
The Home Team is the team located on the left of each scheduled game.
JERSEYS
Players participating in MSSL’s basketball leagues are required to wear shirts with numbers. The jerseys do not have to be official, but need to at least be t-shirts with the numbers of players on the back. Jerseys and shirts must be the same color.
JEWELRY
Players will not be permitted to play with jewelry including but not limited to knotted bandanas, hats, rings, watches, necklaces, or earrings.
OVERTIME
Overtime periods will be two minutes each and the clock will stop the final minute of the overtime period. Each team will be awarded one time out not to be carried over in each overtime period. If after the 1st overtime period the score is still tied, there will be 1 additional overtime period which will be played as sudden death. The first team to score, wins.
MERCY RULE
When a team is winning by fifteen points within two minutes remaining in the game, the clock will not stop.
TIMEOUTS
Each team is awarded two timeouts per half and one timeout per overtime. Timeouts do not carry over
TIEBREAKERS
Any teams that are tied with the same record at the end of the season will have the tiebreaker determined by the following:
- Head to Head
- Point differential
- Coin Flip
