Ben Mirgon had a rough go during his high school basketball playoff game in Ohio on Saturday. Not only did he lose the game, he spent all of Sunday recovering from a dirty punch that somehow went (mostly) unpunished.
The player who committed the egregious and inappropriate foul was allowed to stay in the game!
Mirgon, a sophomore at Hilliard Bradley High School, was on the wrong side of an six-point loss to Reynoldsburg High School. The two high school basketball programs are separated by approximately 30 miles on opposite ends of Columbus. They are relatively familiar opponents that matched up in the OHSAA Div I Boys Basketball District Finals at Taftt Coliseum. Bradley, the No. 15-seed, was a major underdog to No. 2-seed Reynoldsburg.
The Jaguars actually jumped out to a 33-25 lead at halftime but the Raiders went on a 7-0 run right before the break and ultimately won their 20th-straight game by a final score of 57-51.
It would’ve been an upset for the ages if the lower seed could’ve held on. Their scoreless streak at the end of the first half proved to be the difference and they were forced to play without their best player. Mirgon had to go to the bench for a few minutes after getting punched below the belt. Bradley’s offense does not look the same without him.
Kid can play too!! @Ben_mirgon pic.twitter.com/wVLeOCjHGJ
— Aj Mirgon (@AjMirgon) March 2, 2025
The incident took place when Mirgon brought the ball up the court with 4:21 remaining in the first half. He had just knocked down back-to-back triples to take a 30-18 lead.
Mehki Roddy, Reynoldsburg’s star freshman, was on defense and fell to the floor in an effort to draw an offensive foul when the ball-handler extended his arm at the half-court line. No foul was called, which led to a retaliatory punch. Mirgon took a nasty shot to the cojones and crumbled to the floor.
I don’t know how the Ohio high school basketball officials did not see intent behind the punch. They issued a technical foul but they did not escalate the foul to a Flagrant 2. Roddy was not ejected!
The Mirgon family could not believe it. Understandably so.
Somehow they just called an intentional foul. No technical not ejected…..
— Dan Mirgon (@bigmirg) March 2, 2025
A.J. Mirgon, who I think is Ben’s brother, said that it was the “worst reffed half of basketball he’s seen in a while.” He could not believe the dirty punch “flies in high school basketball these days.”
The Ohio High School Athletic Association has yet to issue a statement on the matter. Ben Mirgon said on Sunday that he was “struggling.”
Monday Morning Quarterbacks are undefeated. One singular play does not determine the outcome of a game. I know this. However, one has to wonder if Hilliard Bradley would’ve been able to hang on and beat Reynoldsburg if Roddy was ejected and/or if Mirgon was not forced to sit with pulsating gonads.