Hilliard Bradley 68, Big Walnut 53
Ben Mirgon's career high 35 points gives the Jaguars their 9th win in a row
Written by 270 Hoops staff writer Greg Glasser
HILLIARD, OH - As the calendar flipped to 2026, the cliché “new year, new me” is frequently heard. For Hilliard Bradley, that can be translated to “new season, new team” even though the Jaguars returned most of their key players from a disappointing 2024-25 campaign.
Playing in their first game of 2026, the Jaguars defeated Big Walnut at home on Saturday 68-53, which marked their ninth straight win and eight straight with an outcome decided by double digits. Just ten games into the season, Hilliard Bradley has already surpassed last year’s win total (8).
New season, new team, indeed.
“Last year, we were so young and it was the worst Christmas break we’ve ever had in terms of practice and playing,” Jaguars head coach Brett Norris said after game. “I liked the way we handled this [year]. It’s not easy to take kids out of a routine, but yeah, I’m pleased with where we are at.”
Against the Golden Eagles, Norris was the most pleased with how his team started the game. After Big Walnut started out 6-0 with back-to-back threes, the Jaguars scored the next 20 points of the first quarter. Bradley maintained a mostly double-digit lead the rest of the way, which peaked as high as a 22-point advantage early in the third quarter.
Big Walnut got the deficit down to ten with 1:39 to play, but the Jaguars sealed the deal at the foul line as they went seven-of-eight at the charity stripe for their final points.
“It really was that [20-0 run] stretch that was special, but then I thought it was super choppy the rest of the way,” Norris said. “We were really inconsistent defensively and we played tired for a good stretch, but I thought Ben [Mirgon] was really good tonight so anytime [Big Walnut] got into reach, he as much as we, had an answer.”
To describe Mirgon’s play as really good may be an understatement. The 6’2 point guard went off for a career high 35 points that included six threes and a perfect nine-for-nine at the line. Four of those six triples came during Bradley’s 20-0 opening run.
