Hilliard Bradley’s Kypton Norris maneuvers past Sean Brechbill of Newark during a Division I regional final game Saturday. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Jessica Phelps)
Hilliard Bradley used its smothering defense and outstanding guard play of Kypton Norris and Ben Mirgon to overwhelm Newark in Region 2 and Pickerington Central fed off its role as underdog to pull off a massive upset of top-ranked Lakota West in Region 3.
Columbus, OH – Hilliard Bradley’s young, tenacious, fearless basketball team took home the program’s first regional championship trophy Saturday, but it wasn’t just for those 13 players and four coaches on the roster.
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It was also for the 2018 regional runner-up that came up four points short of the final four and the 2020 squad that was penciled into a spot in the regional title game when the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the cancellation of the remainder of the season by the Ohio High School Athletic Association.
“That 2020 team was in the locker room with us tonight,” Jaguars 11th-year coach Brett Norris said. “We brought the team picture and taped it on the wall. We talked to them as a group this morning as well. They gave us a lot of energy.”
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Playing with fire, confidence and physicality, Bradley jumped out to a 10-0 lead and went on to beat Newark 57-46 in a long-anticipated Division I regional title game at the Ohio Expo Center’s Taft Coliseum.
The Jaguars (24-2) advanced to face upstart Pickerington Central (18-8) in a state semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Wright State University’s Nutter Center. The Tigers shocked No. 1-ranked Lakota West 69-60 in the nightcap.
“It’s just all about the belief and trust we have in this program and the hard work we put in to get there,” Jaguars sophomore guard Kypton Norris said. “We came out with a lot of confidence and tried to make a statement on the defensive end.”
Added his junior backcourt mate Ben Mirgon, “It was just our day. We played with courage and fire. We went out and played for the 2020 team. They built the foundation.”
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Norris – the youngest of the coach’s four sons – and Mirgon form arguably the most talented backcourt in Ohio. Both can handle, pass and drive the ball and shoot it from long range. And they can defend with the best.
Jake Quackenbush of Newark is closely guarded by Jayden Reed-Davis during the Division I regional final.
In addition to scoring a game-high 25 points and leading Bradley with six rebounds, the ambidextrous Norris spent much of the day harassing one of Newark’s top scorers in Ty Gilbert, who wound up 1 for 8 from the field. It may have been his finest all-around game as a Jaguar and it came on the biggest stage.
“Ben and Kyp grew up around our program and they’ve known about our standard and what we’re about since day one,” Brett Norris said. “A big part of our effort tonight was the great respect we had for Newark. I spent the last two days watching film of them and they reminded me of that 2008 team that won the state. We knew it was going to take an exceptional effort and a certain level of recklessness and courage to beat them.”
Norris and Newark coach Jeff Quackenbush are close friends off the court and always scrimmage each other. After Bradley won at Newark 43-41 on a last-second putback by Kypton Norris, the coaches exchanged words something to the effect of ‘We’ll see you in the regional final’ and indeed this meeting appeared inevitable since the teams were seeded No. 1 and 2 in the district.
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While Bradley looked confident and shared the ball exquisitely for high percentage shots, Newark (23-3) looked out of sorts much of the night.
Hilliard Bradley players celebrate a 57-46 victory over Newark for their first trip to the final four.
The Wildcats wound up shooting 11 of 45 from the field (24 percent) and stayed afloat mostly due to 20-of-22 free throw shooting and decent defense of their own.
“I think they kind of put us in panic mode when they jumped out 10-0 on us,” Quackenbush said. “We never looked very comfortable tonight. I’ve played and coached a long time and sometimes you just need to see the ball go in the basket to get that spark. And I know with those two guards, Bradley can be really good when they get the lead and spread the floor on you.”
Will Mojica passes the ball to a teammate while Ty Gilbert of Newark tries to intercede.
Although the Wildcats didn’t make their first field goal until the 6:40 mark of the second quarter, they managed to stay with two-to-three possessions until the final six minutes when Bradley began playing keep away and began a steady march to the free throw line.
Mirgon chipped in 15 points for Bradley, which knocked down six of its seven 3-point goals in the first half. The Jags went 22 of 26 from the foul line.
It was a brutally physical game with a lot of bumping, pushing and hand checking.
“With a few exceptions, we executed our game plan defensively really well,” Brett Norris said. “As good as Jake Quackenbush is, I think we neutralized him and our guys went body on body with them very well.
“We’re not very big and not very experienced, we aren’t lacking in character. These guys can bring it. For a team that won eight games a year ago, that’s saying something.”
Pickerington Central 69, Lakota West 60
The Pickerington mystique is alive and well, thank you.
Third-place in its league and ninth-seeded in the Central District tournament, the Tigers fed off their perceived underdog role and took down a 24-1 Lakota West team that has been nationally ranked much of the season.
“I felt like with our group once we got our full roster back, we can beat anybody,” 12th-year Central coach Eric Krueger said. “I’m not sure if anyone else outside our locker room believed it, but we believe. Teams have different personalities and makeups. This group kind of thrives on that underdog role and mentality. The guys in our locker room feel like they’re the best team whenever they step on the floor.”
Aaven Snyder scored 21 points to pace the Tigers, who led most of the way. Landon Evans added 13 and Albee Moore 11.
Newark players react to the bittersweet end of another successful postseason run.
“How did we think we’d beat them? We just had to compete. Battle, battle every possession. We’re underrated, underdogs and we’ve talked about that all season long. We said, ‘We’ve got ‘em where we want ‘em. We come into every game like we’ve got nothing to lose. This isn’t an upset to us. We knew we could do it.”
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Central closed the third quarter on an 11-2 run for an eight-point lead and hiked its lead to as much as 14 before a futile late run by the Firebirds.
Josh Tyson dropped in 22 points for Lakota West but Pickerington Central pulled the upset with a 69-60 win to set up a final four matchup against Bradley. (Press Pros file photo)
Playing in front of Ohio State coach Jake Diebler and a host of major college coaches, prized junior recruit Josh Tyson scored 22 points to pace Lakota West, which fell to Reynoldsburg 64-63 in a state semifinal last season and was loaded for bear. Bryce Curry added 15.
This marks the fifth trip to the final four in 14 years for Pick Central, which won titles in 2012 and 2022 and was runner-up in 2023.
The Tigers’ weathered a rugged schedule to reach this point, losing twice to Ohio Capital Conference Buckeye Division rivals Newark and Reynoldsburg and also falling to Division II state semifinalist Westerville North among others.
“We wound up in this lower bracket with the Southwest District teams sort of by chance because we had two losses right before the draw,” Krueger said. “Beating Upper Arlington, Centerville and Lakota West probably wasn’t the easiest path but it all works out, right?”
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