Thirteen to two

Does 13 fouls for one team and two for the other seem fair to you?
Bearden lost to Jessieville in overtime Saturday at the 2A State Tournament semifinals. In the second half, officials blew the whistle 15 times. Thirteen times the call went against the Lady Bears.
A lot of the fans left the gym believing Coach John Traband's girls had gotten shafted.
I will say this, they definitely didn't get any breaks. But, the fact is, Bearden plays a very aggressive style. The Lady Bears do commit a lot of fouls and I have no doubt, they probably did commit 13 fouls in the second half.
I also have no doubt, Jessieville probably fouled more than twice.
Clearly, the foul trouble hurt the Lady Bears, who had to play a lot of the fourth quarter without Mariane Rogers. Nekeia Rideout played a lot of the second half with four fouls, which probably cramped her playing style a bit, also.
It's unfortunate the striped shirts played such a huge role in a game of this importance. However, I stop short of calling it biased officiating.
I think it was just one of those days when nothing was going a particular team's way. It happens to every team and it sucks every time it happens.
Traband took the high road when I asked him about it after the game. He was very classy, giving all the credit to Jessieville's players.
I thought that was fitting considering the class his players showed, fighting so hard and coming up just short, against all odds.
By the way, I loved how Junction City's fans got behind Bearden. That's what makes the state tournament great. South Arkansas teams and fans stick together.