KEY POINTS:
They were allowed to play in the tournament, but they weren't allowed to win it.
So reaching the North Shore secondary schools basketball finals became a problem for two teams of homeschooled players who blitzed the field.
The teams were given the ultimate ref's whistle - and barred from competing in the big game.
With an estimated 4000 homeschooled students in the country, some said the teams had beaten the odds just getting to this year's finals.
The U19s and U17s North Shore boys teams slam-dunked their competition all season.
U17s coach Patrick Dougherty said the older boys didn't lose a game.
His team lost one and boasted the impressive points record of 446 for and 192 against.
In its ranks was rising star Brad Anderson, named in the emerging Junior Tall Blacks selected to go to the Australian U16 Championships this year, and regional age group representatives Matt Lacey, Joseph Thomas and brothers Eamonn and Timothy Dougherty.
Coach Dougherty, the father of Eamonn and Timothy, admitted even he was surprised by their success.
They didn't regularly practise as a team and he entered them in the U17s second grade competition because, with players as young as 14, he thought they might struggle.
"I was quite wrong," said Dougherty. "They totally smacked them."
He said the team trounced the competition by 30 points in one game, despite only having four players on court.
Dougherty said he didn't think reaching the finals would be a problem as a homeschooled team of U17 girls won the North Shore competition last year.
The girl's team, however, was stopped from progressing to the wider Auckland play-offs.
But this year, a long-standing College Sport bylaw requiring players to be on a school roll was cited ahead of the game.
' Dougherty said he found out the week of the final when he asked an official what time they had to turn up.
"She couldn't answer me," said Dougherty. "I said 'is it the homeschool thing?' and she said 'yes'."
College Sport chief executive Nick Jordan said the ruling was a simple case of the students not meeting the rules.
A bylaw required participants to be on a high school roll and study at least 80 per cent of the school programme.
Dougherty said families in the homeschooling circles were grateful to be able to play in the contest at all.
