Held Ball Rule

[Josh1993]

Hello, and thank you for always being willing to help. Here's the situation:

Boys middle school varsity game. A1 and B1 go after a rebound and grab the ball at the same time. A1 is strong enough to pivot around and B1 holds on tight and is picked up off the floor, like a merry go round with the bigger kid as the pivot. Luckily B1 lands on his feet, while still holding onto the ball which is well within A1's grip.

My partner and I blow our whistles for a held ball at the same time. I promise myself to put air in my whistle faster next time so it won't happen again.

Well, you already guessed what happened a few minutes later. Two different players go for a loose ball. The players are coming from two different directions. A2 gets the ball and already starts his pivot when B2 grabs the ball. This time I'm right on top of it, but B2 is already being lifted off the ground, merry go round style as I put air in the whistle.

So my question to you is, do we have a specific rule for this situation? The closest I could find is 12.1.2

A held ball occurs when one or more players of each opposing team have one or both hands firmly on the ball so that neither player can gain control without undue roughness.

That doesn't seem to address what was happening. At this point it's clear that the players are doing this for fun and would continue if we didn't put a stop to it. Luckily, they are close-by rival schools so I knew players on both teams. I told them, "You guys knock it off!" and they straightened up.