Scorekeeper's Guide to NFHS High School Basketball Grades 9-12 2026-27

Ten minutes before the scheduled starting time, each team must give the scorer:

• its roster with uniform numbers, and
• its starting lineup (five starters).

Then:

1. Have the coach sign to confirm the lineup is correct.
2. Notify the referee if either list isn't submitted on time, or is changed after the 10-minute mark. The referee decides any penalty.
3. If you spot discrepancies (for example a number in the book that doesn't match a jersey), tell the referee before the ball is tossed.

The timer should alert you when it is 10 minutes before the start, and the book must be available at the table from then until the referee approves the final score.

Recommended NFHS scorebook symbols:

Also record free-throw attempts, made free throws and the number of free throws awarded.

Crediting points

• Points scored in the wrong basket are never credited to a player. Credit them to the team in a footnote.
• Points awarded for goaltending or basket interference by the defense are credited to the shooter.
• When a live ball goes in the basket, the last player who touched it caused it to go in.

Running score

• Announce and record the running score, and the name and number of each scorer.
• Check the scoreboard often and have each team's running total available at all times.

• Count team fouls by quarter. They reset to zero at the end of the first, second and third quarters. Fourth-quarter fouls carry into overtime, because overtime is an extension of the fourth quarter.
• Personal, technical and intentional fouls all count toward the team total.
• From the opponent's fifth team foul in a quarter, the team is in the bonus: two free throws for every common foul except a player-control (or team-control) foul. There is no one-and-one.
• Display the bonus indicator (for example "H" for home or "V" for visitor) after the penalty for the fourth team foul has been administered, so the officials know the next common foul is a bonus foul. Another method is a light or device nearest the basket of the team that will receive the bonus.
• Notify the nearer official when the bonus comes into effect.

Track each player's fouls too. When there is more than one scorer, exchange the name and number of the player charged and that player's foul total each time.

Allowance per team

• Regulation: three 60-second and two 30-second timeouts
• Each overtime: one extra 60-second timeout
• Unused timeouts carry over, including into overtime

Recording

• Record each charged timeout: which team and when (quarter and time on the clock).
• Keep a running count so you can tell a coach or official how many each team has left.
• Notify the nearer official when a team has been granted all its allotted timeouts, or an excess timeout (an excess timeout is a technical foul).

Not charged as a timeout

• An official grants a player's request because of displaced eyeglasses or lenses.
• A correctable error, or a timing, scoring or alternating-possession mistake, is prevented or fixed.

• A substitute who is entitled and ready to enter must report to you. Signal only when the ball is dead and time is out.
• The substitute enters only when beckoned by an official, and must enter at once (except between quarters and during a timeout).
• Between halves: the substitute or a team representative must report before the 15-second warning at the end of halftime. If not properly reported, the players who ended the second quarter start the third.
• After a timeout or intermission: the substitute must report, or be in position to report, before the warning signal.
• A player who was withdrawn can't re-enter until the next substitution opportunity after the clock has properly started following that player's replacement.
• A substitute for a designated jumper or a free thrower (on a personal foul) is allowed only if that player is injured or disqualified. A substitute can replace a designated starter for illness or injury, or to attempt a technical-foul free throw.
• If several free throws are awarded, don't beckon substitutes until the last throw is about to be attempted or the final throw is made (unless an official has directed a player to leave).

Record every entry in the book, and check that each substitute's number matches the roster.

The scorer is responsible for the alternating-possession arrow.

• The game starts with a jump ball. The team that does not gain control after the opening jump gets the first alternating-possession throw-in, so set the arrow toward that team's basket as soon as the other team gains control.
• After that, held balls and other alternating-possession situations go to the team the arrow points to.
• Reverse the arrow when the alternating-possession throw-in ends (not when the official signals the held ball).

If the arrow is set wrongly, it is an alternating-possession mistake: signal an official at the next dead ball so it can be fixed. No timeout is charged for fixing it.

Notify the nearer official when:

1. A team reaches the bonus (the opponent's fifth team foul in the quarter).
2. Any player is charged with a fifth foul (personal and technical combined).
3. Any team member or bench personnel gets a second technical foul, the head coach gets a second direct technical, or the head coach gets a third technical of any kind.
4. A team has been granted all its allotted timeouts, or an excess timeout.
5. The ball is dead, or in control of the offending team, and a player hasn't reported, has changed number, or is illegally in the game.
6. The ball is dead and there's a score dispute or doubt about an official's decision.
7. A player enters wearing an illegal number.
8. The ball is dead (clock stopped or running) and a coach asks for a correctable error, or a timing, scoring or alternating-possession mistake, to be fixed.

If you have any doubt about a call, signal as soon as conditions permit so the official can verify it.

Sound your signal only when it won't interrupt live action or an official's administration. Do not signal:

• after the free thrower, or the thrower-in, has been handed the ball or the ball is at that player's or team's disposal
• until the official has finished reporting a foul to the table

Sounding your signal does not stop the game clock, so a horn at the wrong moment can cause confusion without stopping play. Your signal must sound different from the timer's.

Don't change the book on the coach's word alone. Bring in the officials:

1. Signal the nearer official when the ball is dead (the clock may be stopped or running) if the coach asks for a correctable error, or a timing, scoring or alternating-possession mistake, to be prevented or fixed.
2. Also signal at a dead ball whenever there is a score dispute or doubt about an official's decision.
3. Show the official your record. In any controversy the official scorebook is accepted, unless the referee has knowledge that allows a different ruling.
4. Make only the corrections the referee directs.

No timeout is charged to the team when a correctable error, or a timing, scoring or alternating-possession mistake, is prevented or fixed.

The referee designates the official scorebook and the official scorer before the game (Rule 2-4-3). Everyone else at the table is a non-official scorer.

• Non-official scorers must check each entry with the official scorebook, and when there are multiple scorers they must compare their records with the official scorer (Rule 2-11-11). This keeps the official scorer focused on the game.
• The scorers should announce to each other and record the running score, announce the name and number of each scorer, and exchange the name and number of each player charged with a foul and that player's foul total.
• In any controversy, the official scorebook is accepted unless the referee has knowledge that allows a different ruling.

You may wear a black-and-white vertically striped garment, or drape one over the scorer's table, so the officials can identify you (Rule 2-11-12).

At the end of each half

• Compare the summary of individual players' points with the total running score. They must match.
• Check team fouls, player fouls and timeouts charged against what the officials and the other scorer have.

During intermissions

• You, or an assistant you delegate, must be at the table with the official scorebook at all times.
• After every intermission, verify who is on the court and notify an official if a player who hasn't reported has entered.

At the end of the game

• The scorebook must stay at the table and be available for inspection until the referee has approved the final score. Don't pack up or leave with the book before then.