Former Otago Boys High School pupil Hayden Miller hit what appeared to be the match-winning shot for the combined Otago-Waitakere City team in the semifinal of the national under-21 championships against Porirua in Tauranga on Friday night.
But the celebrations were cut short when the referees overruled the play and Porirua clinched the game 77-74 in overtime.
With 2.4 seconds remaining in regulation time and the scores tied at 69-69, Porirua coach Deslea Wrathall signalled time-out to the score bench.
With the referees unable to be notified before the play began, Miller made the basket and his team-mates ran on the court to celebrate.
After consulting the score bench, the referees awarded Porirua the time-out and put the 2.4 seconds back on the clock.
West Auckland beat Porirua 79-67 in the final on Saturday and Otago-Waitakere claimed third place with a 92-64 win over Harbour.
Former Otago Nugget Tom Rowe and Dunedin's Luke Aston were selected in the tournament team.
Otago's under-21 women beat Palmerston North 56-35 to finish ninth.
In Dunedin club basketball, Tom Storey top-scored with 21 points as the South Pacific Magic thrashed the Andersons Bay Falcons 111-56.
Jeremy Blair scored a team-high 22 points to lead the St Kilda Saints to an 83-64 win against the Varsity Blaze.
Matt Gillan added 16 points for the Saints. being beaten 67-56 by the Magic's second team.
