I wouldn't go that far, but they did get this call incorrect. I'd suggest politely talking with them about it the next time you see them--you can point them to 116.3b, the relevant rule.
Though it's probably worth noting that if player A was attempting to use another
Deathrite Shaman to cast the next spell, or was cracking a fetchland to get the land to cast it, that would make the judge's answer correct, because players can respond to either the fetchland ability or Deathrite's ability, as neither are mana abilities--they use the stack and can be responded to.