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A star high school athlete was ejected from a regular season basketball game after two intentional fouls.
The actions prompted officials to bar the teen from playing her next game, which was a playoff game.
She challenged that decision in court and won.
In her last regular season game against Bay Shore, Sofia Vasselman got two intentional foul calls and was ejected from the game.
In New York state, if you have two intentional or technical fouls, athletes have to sit out the next game.
So how did the decision to not let her play get overturned? Judge Stephen Hackeling ruled that the NCAA rules that the girls basketball team follows make no reference to suspension, and the county can wave rules. He says they didn't do it in this case.
“They were confusing NCAA rules with New York State rules, NCAA gives you the rules on the court and everything else falls under New York state rules and Section 11 rules," says Tom Combs, the Section XI executive director.
Vasselman, who is the team captain, spoke with News 12 after the ruling saying, “We do play by NCAA rules, but sometimes they said they go by the state rules - that should definitely be written down.”
She will be playing in the playoff game on Thursday against Huntington on her home court at Commack High School.
