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A high school basketball game in the state of Ohio saw four players and one parent ejected over the weekend. One team was forced to play without a bench.
Ohio Basketball Team Forced To Play With No Bench As Series Of Technical Fouls Spark Mass Ejection
Ohio Basketball Team Forced To Play With No Bench After Mass Ejection Involving Players And Parent
The lack of depth impacted the losing side’s ability to climb back from an early deficit. It finished the contest with a five-man rotation.
The matchup came in Middletown, just outside the city of Cincinnati. The Madison Mohawks hosted the Norwood Indians in non-conference action.
Norwood entered at 8-1 while Madison was just 1-4. That wouldn’t matter by night’s end.
The Mohawks pulled off the high school basketball upset.
A lot went down at the Brian Cook Classic — including this first-quarter buzzer beater from Shortridge to give Madison a 19-10 lead over Norwood pic.twitter.com/PQlAxw8qLw
— 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒆𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝑶𝒉𝒊𝒐 (@TheReportOhio) December 28, 2025
Madison jumped out to a 19-10 first quarter lead. It wouldn’t look back.
While Norwood was able to close the gap to 37-35 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Mohawks would go onto win the game, 47-36. The end result was not the storyline.
Instead, extracurriculars overshadowed the Madison win. A total of four players were tossed while eight technical fouls were handed out. One Madison parent was even asked to leave the arena.
Emotions were at a high. Tensions between the two sides were visible.
And another Norwood player is gone – My God not seen anything like this before @SWOSportsDaily pic.twitter.com/Am5E2LYxtK
— Eric Hickey (@ehick13) December 28, 2025
Norwood scored just one point in the final period. Depth played a role. Three of the four ejected players were in the Norwood lineup. By game’s end, they had no bench to utilize.
Madison exploited that weakness to extend its lead and get the win.
Technical fouls were doled out for a myriad of different reasons. One came as the result of a slam dunk in warmups before the second half. Another came in response to a player’s foul language towards a referee.
Four of the game’s eight T’s involved a pair of players that went at it near the end of the first half.
Ok clarification at half: Madison player 2 T’s tossed, Norwood player 2T’s tossed – those offset ; another Norwood player tossed for coming off bench no T’s; Madison parent tossed coming out of stands…
–Eric Hickey / X
The wild high school basketball scene certainly kept officials busy throughout the night. At the end of the day, the team that was able to best control its emotions picked up a big home win.