Tournament Rules

General Tournament Information MSCS Tournament Rules Certification Rules Age Eligibility

General Tournament Information

  • The home team must wear light colored uniform tops and the away team must wear dark colored uniforms.
  • Game officials have the authority to eject players and coaches for poor sportsmanship at their discretion. All ejections are reviewed by the referee assignor and tournament director(s).
  • All coaches must check-in at the designated location and receive a wristband in order to sit on the bench. Only two coaches are allowed per team. A program director may take the place of an assistant coach with prior approval.
  • Coaches are responsible for controlling team spectators and fans. Referees and tournament officials have the authority to ask a player or fan to leave for unsportsmanlike conduct. Teams can receive technical fouls for the actions of their coaches, players and spectators for any distractions ruled as unsportsmanlike conduct by the tournament staff.
  • If a coach, player, or spectator is ejected from the game, he or she may be suspended for the next game during tournament play at the tournament director’s discretion. The suspended coach, player or spectator may not be allowed on the property for the game in which they are suspended if the tournament director feels it is necessary. An ejected coach, player, or spectator must leave the vicinity of the playing court and must be out of earshot and out of sight of the officiating staff.
  • Any tournament participant (player, coach, fan, or referee) that has a physical interaction with another player, fan, coach, or referee can be suspended for not only that weekend’s event, but also indefinitely, at the tournament director’s discretion. A return to the facility is at the discretion of the MSCS tournament staff. Fighting will not be tolerated at MSCS events.
  • MSCS does not condone the use of racial slurs from players, parents, or coaches. Use of racial slurs is grounds for ejection from the event.

MSCS Tournament Rules

  • 6th – HS Grades will use the full size 29.5 regulation basketball. All divisions, 5th Grade and below, will use the 28.5 size basketball.
  • 2nd Grade – 8th Grade
    • All games will be 14-minute halves, with a stop clock.
    • If a team leads by more than twenty points, the clock will run continuously. If the lead drops to twenty points or less, normal clock stoppages will resume.
    • If a team is down 20 or more points under 2 minutes in the second half, the game will be called.
  • The 10 second mid-court and 5 second closely guarded rules will be enforced for all games.
  • Each team is allocated three 45-second timeouts per game. Timeouts carry over to overtime. Each team will receive an extra timeout for overtime.
  • Players foul out if they receive 6 personal fouls.
  • Teams will be in the bonus and will one-and-one at 8 fouls. When a team reaches 12 team fouls for the half, the other team will shoot double bonus.
  • Team fouls will reset at halftime of each contest. For overtime, the team foul count will carry over.
  • Only the designated head coach may stand up during the game.
  • Coaches will be allowed to stand after any assessed technical foul.
  • Coaches and players will be ejected on their second technical foul.
  • If any player is ejected for fighting, they will serve a minimum one game suspension. The suspension will be for the next scheduled game. Depending on the severity of the actions, the staff may determine that the suspension will be longer than one game.
  • All players must be on the roster before their first game. Any player not listed on the team roster will not be eligible to play in the playoff/bracket round. If a player misses the first day of the event, the player may still play the next day if they are listed on the certified roster sheet.
  • A player may not play in two separate divisions within the same age group
  • Any team which does not have 5 players (or their head coach) by the start of the game will be given a grace period of fifteen minutes before the game starts. After 15 minutes, the team may choose to play with 4 players, utilize an assistant coach or parent to supervise the kids, or MSCS reserves the right to enforce a forfeit.
  • Each game will have 2 minutes of warm-up time and halftime will be 3 minutes.
  • An opposing coach can submit a challenge of a player’s grade or age with a $100.00 deposit. Parents or fans associated with a team may not protest. The protest must come from the head coach or the one assistant coach who is allowed on the bench per team. A protest of a player’s grade must be submitted before the game starts, or within 30 minutes of the game’s completion.
  • A successful protest of a player will result in the removal of the player from further play AND forfeiting of the games in which player participated.
  • No Jewelry shall be worn during gameplay

  • Overtime Rules:
    • Timeout(s) carryover
    • 1 additional timeout provided
    • 2:00 will be the designated time for overtime, should there be double overtime the first team to score 5 points will be declared the winner.

  • MSCS Qualifier Participation Rules:
    • Players MUST have been enrolled in the grade for which they will compete for the MSCS Finals, during the 2025 – 2026 School year. For 6th grade, age exception players will be allowed. Please review our “Certification Birthdates” below for details.
    • All players must have been an active member of the participating team throughout the AAU season, playing 2+ more events prior to roster lock date.
    • For MSCS Qualifier Teams: For 6th – 8th grade, team Rosters are locked based on the confirmed athletes who played in the qualifier event, with only three athlete changes (including additions) allowed. (Anything above this number may compromised the teams right to the automatic bid)

Tie Breaker Rules

  • In the event of a two-way tie in pool play, the tie will be determined by the head-to-head outcome between the teams. If the two teams who are tied have not played each other, the tie will be broken by point differential, followed by points againt.
  • In the event of a three-way tie in pool play, where each team has played each other, the tie will be determined by point differential with a maximum +/- of 20 points in any one game and only games against teams involved in the tie will be factored in. In the event that point differential does not break the tie between any of the teams (three or more teams), the tie between these remaining teams only will be determined by least points allowed against all of the teams involved in the tie. If there is a tie in point differential and in least points allowed between the three teams that have all played each other, points scored will be used to break the tie.
  • In the event of a three-way tie, where the teams involved did not all play each other in pool play, any ties will be determined by head-to-head outcome first, followed by point differential, followed by least points allowed. Point differential and least points allowed are still relevant even if all teams did not play each other in pool play. If there is a tie in point differential and in least points allowed between two teams within the three-way tie, head-to-head will still be used to determine which of the two teams advances. If teams who are tied have an equal point differential and points allowed but did not play each other head-to-head, points scored will be used to break the tie.
  • For any game that results in a forfeit, the score will be 15 – 0. The winning team receives a +15 and the losing team receives a -15.

Certification Rules

  • All players must be on the roster before their first game. Any player not listed on the team roster will not be eligible to play in the playoff/bracket round. If a player misses the first day of the event, the player may still play the next day if they are listed on the certified roster sheet.
  • 2nd Grade – 6th Grade must abide by the 2025-2026 MSCS age/grade based guidelines (see our “Certification Birthdates” document for reference). For the correct definition of a grade-exception, please also see our “Certification Birthdates” document.
  • Players who are born in the correct birth date range for a division but are in an advanced grade, are still eligible to play in that particular division. Ex. If a player hoping to play 10U/4th grade is in 5th grade, but was born on 8/15/2014 or later, they can still play in that division. Players who qualify age-wise are eligible for their respective division they qualify for, no matter what grade they are in.
    • However, High School players (9th-12th grade) are not allowed to participate in the 8th Grade division, regardless of whether they make the age cutoff or not. A player in the 8th grade is not allowed to participate in the 7th Grade division, regardless of whether they make the age cutoff or not.
  • High school divisions will be “Frosh/Soph,” “Junior Varsity,” and “Varsity.” Juniors and Seniors may NOT play Frosh/Soph, and Seniors may NOT play Junior Varsity.
  • If a team does not follow the certification process they may be removed without a refund.
  • An opposing coach can submit a challenge of a player’s grade or age exception with a $100.00 deposit. Parents or fans associated with a team may not protest. The protest must come from the head coach or the one assistant coach who is allowed on the bench per team. A protest of a player’s age or grade must be submitted before the game starts, or within 30 minutes of the game’s completion.
  • A successful protest of a player will result in the removal of the player from further play AND forfeiting of the games in which player participated.

Age Eligibility

  • MSCS divisions for all MSCS tournaments are grade based, with 6th grade having an age exception. All divisions have an age limit. Under these rules, any player who shows current proof of grade (report card, progress report, or school ID) is eligible to play for that grade level.
    • Example- A player playing ate is eligible to play as a grade exception.
    • However, birthdate is still relevant. For example, please note that a player who is in 7th grade could still conceivably play in the 6th Grade division if he fits into the correct age range. Players who are born in the correct birth date range for a division but are in an advanced grade, are still eligible to play in that particular division.
      • This rule does not apply to High School players playing in 8th Grade or 8th graders looking to play 7th Grade.
      • See age ranges below:
  • 2nd Grade
    • Birthday Range: August 15, 2017 – Present
    • If a player was born before 8/15/2017 BUT is in the 2nd grade, that player is eligible for 8U as an exception
  • 3rd Grade
    • Birthday Range: August 15, 2016 – Present
    • If a player was born before 8/15/2016 BUT is in the 3rd grade, that player is eligible for 9U as an exception
  • 4th Grade
    • Birthday Range: August 15, 2015 – Present
    • If a player was born before 8/15/2015 BUT is in the 4th grade, that player is eligible for 10U as an exception
  • 5th Grade
    • Birthday Range: August 15, 2014 – Present
    • If a player was born before 8/15/2014 BUT is in the 5th grade, that player is eligible for 11U as an exception
    • Player CANNOT turn 13 prior to 8/1/2026
  • 6th Grade
    • Birthday Range: August 15, 2013 – Present
    • If a player was born before 8/15/2013 BUT is in the 6th grade, that player is eligible for 12U as an exception
    • Player CANNOT turn 14 prior to 8/1/2026
  • 7th Grade
    • Player CANNOT turn 15 prior to 8/1/2026
    • Player MUST be in 7th grade
  • 8th Grade
    • Player CANNOT turn 16 prior to 8/1/2026
    • Player MUST be in the 8th grade