HEBRON | A referee at a girls junior varsity basketball game Friday night became ill during halftime and later died at Porter Valparaiso Hospital Campus.

Thomas P. Duffin, 56, of LaPorte, died of a heart attack, Porter County Coroner Vicki Deppe said.

Hebron Superintendent George Letz said the referees went into the locker room at halftime of the Hebron/Washington Township girls junior varsity game and were talking when Duffin became ill. Two nurses at the game performed CPR until paramedics arrive, Hebron Athletic Director Rhonda Walker said.

An ambulance was called, and paramedics attended to Duffin in the locker room before taking him to Porter Valparaiso Hospital campus, where he was pronounced dead at 7:37 p.m.

The junior varsity game was completed, but school officials postponed the varsity game, which will be rescheduled, Walker said.

Coaches and administrators went to the hospital hoping for the best, said Washington Township girls varsity coach Gary Collins.

"We were pretty concerned about it. I've been an official, and I know Tom. I've reffed with him before," Collins said. "We're all pretty broken up about what happened. He was a sweet guy. He's a nice a guy -- I feel really bad for what happened."

Walker said echoed Collins' sentiments.

"He's been coming to our school for many years," Walker said. "He's been officiating over 25 years. He's great to work with, just a great guy, always willing to help out. What I always appreciated was he didn't mind whether it was a JV or varsity game. He was doing it for the kids."

Collins said the referees who were scheduled to officiate the varsity game worked the second half of the JV game.

He said the coaches and administrators met during the extended halftime of the JV game to decide how to proceed. He credited Walker with keeping a cool head and leading the group to the right decision.

"She did a nice job getting us together, and we all talked about what should be done," Collins said. "We all decided the best thing to do was to finish the JV game and postpone the varsity game."

Times staff writers Sue Erler and Jim Peters and Porter County editor John Scheibel contributed to this report.