KJ Reynald's last-second layup gives Gahanna Lincoln a 53-51 win over Pickerington North

GAHANNA, Ohio – KJ Reynald was determined to not let Gahanna Lincoln lose to Pickerington North on a late basket by Arness Lawson for a second time this season.

Thus, when Arness started driving toward the basket in the waning seconds of Friday’s game at Gahanna, the junior point guard jumped into Arness’ lane and swatted the ball out of his hands.

As several players scrambled after the loose ball, Reynald sprinted to the other end of the court and then received a full-court pass from junior forward Jonathan Whiteside.

Reynald caught the ball as he ran into the paint, and with no defenders close to him, he smoothly banked in the game-winning layup with 1.4 seconds on the clock to give the Lions a 53-51 come-from-behind victory over Pickerington North.

Moments later, after a desperation 3-point attempt by Arness missed the mark, Gahanna’s players and fans ran onto the court and engaged in a euphoric celebration.

“I was just looking to stop Arness from scoring,” said Reynald, whose squad lost to North 27-26 on January 13th after Arness scored the game-winning bucket on a put-back within the final minute of regulation. “He’s a very quick and fast player. I knew he was going right, so I got in the gap and knocked the ball from him.

“As soon as I hit the ball, I started sprinting down the court, and when I looked back, Whiteside was throwing it right to me. I just hurried up and made my layup, and when it went in, I was like ‘oh my God, I just scored the winning basket!’

“That was the biggest defensive play and most important basket I’ve ever made.”

With the win, the Lions finished 9-1 in the Ohio Capital Conference-Ohio Division ahead of runner-up North (7-3) to capture their fourth consecutive league title outright.

Reynald said the Lions had plenty of doubters after losing five key players to graduation, including Marquette recruit Sean Jones and Toledo recruit Javan Simmons.

Jones, who was the Ohio Division I co-Player of the Year last season and finished as Gahanna’s all-time leading scorer with more than 1,600 points, ran the point for Gahanna the previous four seasons.

“It feel great to do this again because no one believed in us, after we lost that great senior class,” said, Reynald, whose squad improved to 18-4 overall. “But I learned a lot from Sean and our team wanted this game real bad and was ready for it.

“When I woke up today, I knew I wanted to help my team win this game so we could cut down our net to celebrate being OCC champions.”

Reynald led all scorers with 18 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the field and 5-for-6 shooting from the free throw line.

And Reynald proved to be a clutch scorer, as he banked in an off-balanced shot while driving inside the paint to tie the score at 51 with just over a minute remaining, before eventually scoring the game-winning layup.

“We knew we could count on KJ to make those big shots for us,” senior forward Mo Charlton said. “I’m glad we could win this and I’ve still got a lot of adrenaline rushing through my body. We made a statement after everyone counted us out.”

The Lions trailed almost the entire game and didn’t take their first lead until Reynald’s game-winning shot. Gahanna tied the score four times in the third quarter and one more time in the fourth quarter, before finally getting over the hump.

“Our guys showed a lot of toughness, fighting from behind the entire game,” 21st-year Gahanna coach Tony Staib said. “We’re the winningest program in central Ohio over the last 13 years so our kids know how to win.”

Lawson made all five of his field goal attempts and scored 10 of his team-high 15 points in the first quarter, to help the Panthers jump out to a 14-2 lead.

After Jeff Amapps opened the game with back-to-back baskets, Lawson stole the ball and dunked it to give North an 8-0 advantage, and Amapps followed with two free throws to make it 10-0.

“Give Pickerington North credit because they punched us in the mouth early,” Staib said.

But Charlton scored all eight of his points in the first half, including six points in the second quarter, to help Gahanna rally from two 12-point deficits to pull within 29-28 by halftime.

“When our team had low energy, I said ‘just give me the ball’ and I started looking to score more,” Charlton said. “I knew we weren’t out of it, just because we didn’t play well in the first quarter.”

Amapps scored six of his 14 points in the third quarter to help North expand its lead to 44-40 heading into the final eight minutes of the contest.

Jaiden Vital scored five of his 14 points in the fourth quarter, including converting a three-point play in the opening minute to give the Panthers a 47-40 advantage.

JR Bates also made back-to-back 3-pointers for North in the second quarter.

But Brandon Ivery made all three of his shots and scored six of his nine points in the fourth quarter, to help Gahanna rally.

Also scoring for the Lions were Xavier Rogers (seven points), Whiteside (five), Nas Turner (four) and Luke Murry (two).

“We had a great start,” said North coach Jason Bates, whose squad is 16-6 overall. “But basketball is organic and Gahanna’s just a more solid team than us, so we salute them for winning all of their other OCC games, outside of playing us. We commend them for what they’ve accomplished this season.”

Photo Gallery (photos by Gabe Haferman)