Basketball Club Tournament Software
Twelve youth teams, two courts, a FIBA table where a loss still earns a point, and a shot clock on the hall screen
Twelve youth teams fit into one weekend on two courts: four groups of three on Saturday, then quarter-finals, semi-finals, a third-place game and a final on Sunday, 20 games in all. A FIBA game of four 10-minute quarters needs about 90 minutes in the schedule, so Saturday runs from 09:00 to 18:00. The table follows FIBA Appendix D: 2 points for a win, 1 for a loss, 0 for a forfeit. Basketball has no draws, so a level game goes to 5-minute overtimes.
The weekend of 28–29 November 2026
FIBA's European qualifiers for the 2027 World Cup play their fifth window from 26 to 30 November 2026.
Saturday 08:30: team managers hand in their squad lists. Up to 12 players per team, as in Art. 4.2.1 of the FIBA Official Basketball Rules 2026.
09:00: first slot, one game on each court. Six slots of 90 minutes follow one another until the evening.
All day: four groups take turns on two courts, so every team has at least one free slot between its games.
18:00: the last group game ends. You close the group stage, and the eight quarter-finalists see their Sunday opponents on the public event page.
Sunday 09:00 and 10:30: quarter-finals, two on each court.
12:00: semi-finals. 13:30: the third-place game and the final, side by side on both courts. Medals at about 15:15.
Why 90 minutes per slot: 40 minutes of playing time, 19 minutes of breaks under Art. 8 (2 + 15 + 2), and a clock that stops for every whistle, free throw and time-out. If you shorten half-time, write it in the invitation.
Groups of three, 2-1-0 and a three-way tie
Four groups of three play 4 × 3 = 12 games. Four quarter-finals, two semi-finals, the third-place game and the final add eight more, 20 in all. Every team plays at least two games, and the two finalists play five.
FIBA Appendix D gives 2 classification points for a win, 1 for a loss and 0 for a forfeit. A team that turns up and loses both games still has 2 points. A team that does not turn up gets nothing for that game, and the opponent wins 20-0 (Art. 20.2.1).
When teams are level, FIBA looks first at the games between them: their record, then the point difference, then points scored in those games. Point difference and points scored in all group games come next, and a drawing of lots last. Once one team is separated, the procedure starts again for the rest (D.1.4).
A group of three often ends in a full circle. A beat B 64-60, B beat C 66-62 and C beat A 58-54. Each team has one win, one loss and 3 points, and each has a point difference of 0. Points scored decide: B 126, C 120, A 118. B wins the group and C goes through as runner-up. A goes home with the same record and the same difference as the winner.
Twelve teams can also play three groups of four, with the two best third-placed teams joining the quarter-finals. That makes 18 group games and 26 in total, which needs a third court or a longer weekend. FIBA D.4 compares teams from different groups by record, point difference and points scored, and the cross-group ranking in JudgeMate uses the same three steps.
Quarters, shot clock and team fouls at the scorer's table
Art. 8 sets four quarters of 10 minutes. A game level after the fourth quarter goes to as many 5-minute overtimes as it takes. Each overtime adds 7 minutes (a 2-minute break and 5 minutes of play), so a game that goes to overtime can push the next game on that court back.
The basketball scoreboard follows the same format: four quarters of 10 minutes and 5-minute overtimes with no limit. You can shorten the quarters, to 8 minutes for younger age groups for example. Points go in as 1, 2 or 3, with a shirt number if you want one. The shot clock resets to 24 or 14 seconds and stops with the game clock.
Team fouls count per quarter, and fouls in overtime add to the fourth quarter, as in Art. 42. FIBA puts a team in the penalty after 4 team fouls in a quarter, and the board lights the bonus marker on the fifth, the first foul that is penalised. On a player's fifth personal foul the board marks them as out of the game (Art. 41). Time-outs follow FIBA: 2 in the first half, 3 in the second and 1 in each overtime. The alternating possession arrow is on the board too.
Setting the tournament up in JudgeMate
Start from basketball in the create menu. Basketball runs as a club tournament: each side of a game is a team entered by name, and players need no accounts.
- Add a category in the Groups + knockout format. Set Groups to 4 and Advance per group to 2, and switch on the third-place game.
- Under Who enters the teams, pick a mode. I enter them myself lets you paste the twelve team names into the Teams tab. With A team manager enters the team, one person per club registers the team and a squad of up to 12, and you approve the entry. Players register individually suits an adult open tournament, where every player has an account.
- Leave Standings rules on FIBA (2026 Rules, Appendix D). A new basketball draw starts with it. Custom points stays available if you want your own scale.
- In Courts & schedule, press Add court twice. Set Start time to Saturday 09:00 and Slot length to 90, then press Auto-schedule before the first result goes in.
- The first run also places the knockout games on Saturday evening, because the scheduler knows nothing about the night. After you close the group stage, set Start time to Sunday 09:00 and press Auto-schedule again. Played games keep their slots and the eight knockout games move to Sunday.
- Print the match slips and the bracket as PDF for the scorer's table.
On the day, start a scoreboard from each game. The Referee QR links card shows a code for that game, and whoever scans it at the table runs its scoreboard. Open the board's viewer link on the TV in the hall, so players and parents see the score, the shot clock and the team fouls. Venue TV puts what is on each court now and next on a screen in the lobby. When the game ends, the board is marked as finished and nothing reaches the table yet. Confirm from boards moves the score into the group table and the bracket.
What stays with you and the table officials
- Who enters results. By default you do, by hand or from the scoreboard. The scorer who scans the QR code keeps the score on the board, and that score counts only once you confirm it. If you switch on Players report results, a squad member with an account can report a group game played without a scoreboard, and the other side confirms. Quarter-finals, semi-finals, the third-place game and the final are confirmed by you alone.
- Foul types. The board has one personal foul button. Technical fouls are not told apart from the others, and neither are disruptive fouls or flagrant fouls, both new in FIBA's rules from 1 October 2026. A disqualification after two category 1 technical fouls, two flagrant fouls or one of each is not automatic either.
- Time-outs in the last two minutes. Art. 18.2.5 allows at most 2 time-outs in the second half once the clock shows 2:00 or less in the fourth quarter. The board does not apply that limit, so the scorer keeps an eye on it.
- Scoresheet. JudgeMate prints match slips and the bracket. It does not produce the FIBA scoresheet, so a game in an official competition still needs one.
- Series and two-leg ties. JudgeMate does not run best-of-three play-off series or two-leg ties on aggregate score in basketball.
- Money and messages. Entry fees can be marked as paid or waived next to each team. Nothing is collected online, and there are no email or SMS reminders.
The board is explained step by step in the basketball live scoreboard guide, and the rules behind it in how basketball scoring works.
Set up your event
Free for organizers. No athlete cap. No commission on registrations. See basketball features · Organizer guide