Clutch free throws help lead Pickerington Central past Pickerington North 57-54

PICKERINGTON, Ohio – Pickerington Central senior Gavin Headings isn’t necessarily known for his free throw shooting.

Yet, with his team clinging to a narrow lead on Tuesday at Pickerington North, the 6-foot-8 center calmly stepped to the charity stripe and went 4-for-4 on his free throw attempts within the final 26 seconds of the game to help the Tigers hold on for a 57-54 victory.

And Headings managed to pull off that feat despite being jeered at an ear-splitting volume by North’s large, enthusiastic student section in a game that sold out hours before tipoff.

“I usually don’t shoot many free throws, probably just a couple per game,” said Headings, whose squad improved to 16-5 overall. “But I like having the ball in my hands in situations where the game is on the line. We’ve already played in multiple games that were close in front of big crowds like this, so we’re used to this atmosphere.

“It was loud in here, but I just focused on my breathing when I went to the line to shoot, and I couldn’t hear anyone and so their crowd didn’t get to me.”

After Arness Lawson stole an inbound pass and made a layup to pull North within one point, Headings made two free throws with 25.9 seconds remaining to make it 53-30.

And after Jeff Amapps made a field goal with eight seconds left, Headings made two more free throws to expand Central’s lead to 57-52 and ice the game with 6.5 seconds remaining.

In the fourth quarter alone, Headings went 5-for-6 from the foul line and scored seven of his 13 points. He also made a shot from about 10 feet out to give Central a 51-47 advantage with 1:02 left on the clock.

“Gavin really stepped up for us, offensively, in the fourth quarter,” said Central coach Eric Krueger, who guided the Tigers to the Division I state title a year ago. “He made a big shot and his free throws were huge for us.

“I had confidence in every guy we had out there, that they could make the winning shot if they had the ball in their hands. Our team enjoys playing on a big stage like this, in front of big crowds, and our kids really thrive under that pressure and rise to the occasion.”

Despite being pressured and double-teamed every time he touched the ball, Devin Royal scored a team-high 15 points for the Tigers.

The 6-6 Ohio State University recruit had three soaring dunks that electrified Central’s fans, including one off an alley-oop pass from Juwan Turner just before the halftime buzzer.

North coach Jason Bates was called for a technical foul at the end of that play, and Royal made both free throws to expand Central’s halftime lead to 28-23.

“That gave us a big lift going into halftime,” Royal said. “I felt like I was up in the air for a long time waiting for the ball, but I got it.”

Royal scored six points in the fourth quarter, including converting a three-point play that put the Tigers ahead for good, 46-43, with 5:35 left in the game.

“They focused (their defense) on me most of the time, but that created open spaces for the rest of our guys,” Royal said.

Andrew Hedgepeth scored 10 of his 13 points in the third quarter on 4-for-6 shooting to help keep Central ahead 40-38 going into the final period.

Rounding out Central’s scoring were Markell Johnson (8 points), Turner (6) and Robert Keuchler (2).

“North put a lot of their focus on slowing Devin down, so we ran a lot of action for our other guys,” Krueger said. “Our players were unselfish and they stuck together.”

Lawson scored a game-high 20 points and helped North jump out to a 10-3 lead after he stole the ball at midcourt and finished with a dunk.

Amapps had 14 points, including the first three field goals of the game to help the Panthers go ahead 6-1.

And Jaiden Vital scored 11 points, including a 3-pointer with 2:48 remaining in the third quarter, that gave North its final lead of the game, at 38-35.

Rounding out the Panthers’ scoring were Favor McFadden (5), Kaedyn Dunbar-White (2) and DaWuan Green (2).

“Central is a big, strong team and they took advantage of it and finished better in the paint than we did,” said Bates, whose squad dropped to 16-5 overall. “We also missed some free throws late in the game, and that was tough because it was a possession-by-possession game in the final minutes.”

Photo Gallery (photos by Gabe Haferman)