Tuesday night's District V boys and girls lacrosse championship games between the Anne Arundel County champs and the Howard County champs was a pilot program to make sure everything runs smoothly before District V championships in every sport beginning next fall.

For the most part, everything seemed to run well despite the rain, but one thing that has to be fixed is getting an experienced person to run the clock during the girls game. When the game started, the gentleman running the clock had no idea when to stop it, so he stopped it on more whistles than he should have. One of my colleagues in the press box had to explain to him when to stop the clock and when to let it run.

As a result, the scoreboard clock was running 45 seconds behind the official time in the first half, so as Broadneck was setting up for one final shot, time ran out with 45 seconds still showing on the clock. Fortunately it did not affect the final score Tuesday night because the Bruins defeated Mount Hebron, 11-9, but it certainly could affect the outcome of a game.

I can't blame the gentleman running the clock. He did the job he was asked to do as best he could. But someone who knew what he or she was doing should have been in place from the start. In the second half, a young lady took over the clock and she knew the rules.

In the future, county school officials should be sure they have an experienced timer. If not, next time, it just might be a factor in deciding which team wins the championship. This should not happen at any game much less a showcase game like this one.