WORTHINGTON, Ohio -- It's finally starting to feel like basketball season again.

In what was the most entertaining game of the young season so far in the area, Worthington Christian used two go-ahead free throws from senior Isaiah Hazelwood with 6.5 seconds left to hang on and take down Johnstown 54-53 on Saturday night.

The game was extremely competitive from the opening tip as Worthington Christian trailed early on but took an 18-15 lead late in the first following a 6-0 run charged by junior DJ Moore.

Johnstown had an answer, however, as senior Tylar Cox hit one of his several big three-pointers on the night at the buzzer concluding the first quarter to tie it up at 18 heading into the second.

Despite both teams struggling to get things going offensively early in the second quarter, the Johnnies used two triples from Cox and Brandon McConnell to take a 28-22 with a few minutes left in the half, a lead that was cut to just 31-26 heading into the locker room at the half.

After Moore went coast-to-coast to trim the lead to 31-30 just a couple of minutes into the third, Jake Lusk answered with a basket of his own, however, Worthington Christian senior Tyler Kindberg converted on an and-one just seconds later to tie the game at 33 with 4:46 left in the frame.

The two squads went back-and-for the rest of the quarter after this as following another three from Cox to give the Johnnies a 43-39 lead, Worthington Christian answered with a couple of buckets before the end of the frame to trim the deficit to just 45-43 heading into the final stanza.

After Worthington Christian tied the game at 47, Lusk came up big, nailing a three from the wing to give Johnstown a 50-47 lead with 6:20 to play.

However, Worthington Christian continued to fight back, answering with a quick four points of their own capped off by a coast to coast finish from Moore that gave them a 51-50 advantage with 4:40 to go.

After Johnstown regained the lead for a short period of time, Tommy Anthony hit one of two at the line to help Worthington Christian regain the lead 52-51 with 50 seconds to play.

Lusk then converted an extremely tough basket inside to give Johnstown the lead once again, however, Hazelwood was fouled on the other end and hit both shots to seal the game as Johnstown failed to get a very clean look on their last possession.

Leading all scorers with 23 points, Lusk was fantastic for Johnstown all night. They also received 12 points from Foe and 11 from Cox.

The Johnnies move to 0-1 on the young season and will take on Northmor next Tuesday on the road.

For Worthington Christian, Moore led the way with 16 points while Kindberg contributed 15 of his own. Hazelwood and freshman Sam Johnson each contributed nine points a piece as well.

The Warriors are now the first area team at 2-0 and will be back in action next Thursday when they travel to Berne Union.

DJ Moore (6'3 PG / Worthington Christian / 2022): Moore continued to impress in his second showing of the season tonight, looking more comfortable than ever and commanding the Worthington Christian offense even better than he did the past two seasons. The junior is extremely composed with the ball in his hands, always seems to make the right choice and truly puts his teammates in a rhythm. Moore blew by defenders with ease on several occasions for easy scores on Saturday, hit a couple of very tough contested fadeaways from the mid-range and as always, dished off several high IQ dimes. Moore is also a very disciplined perimeter defender with great feet and size on the defensive end of the floor. Moore is the clear favorite to be the district player of the year in Division III this season with CJ Anthony gone and is certainly playing like it right now.

Jake Lusk (6'3 WF / Johnstown / 2021): While Lusk was busy grinding on the gridiron all fall, the Navy football commit certainly looked the part of someone who has been working on his game a lot in his first showing of the season on Saturday. As usual, Lusk used his strong, bulky defensive end frame to clean up the glass, convert on second chances and score in the post, however, he showed the ability to attack defenders from the perimeter tonight as well, something that caught my eye. The senior used smooth head fakes to get closing out defenders on their toes on several occasions, then showing the ability to attack the rim and convert inside. He also hit a catch and shoot three from the perimeter and played extremely disciplined defense on the interior all night. Even though he is playing football at the next level, Lusk is the type of player any high school coach would want on their roster, as affects the game in so many ways.

Tyler Kindberg (6'3 WG / Worthington Christian / 2021): After winning Division III district Player of the Year honors in soccer this past fall, Kindberg is back to doing a little bit of everything on the hardwood. The 6-foot-3 senior came up huge in the second half for Worthington Christian on Saturday night, using his length to come up with a few big scores inside and force several key turnovers leading to easy buckets. Kindberg is a player who affects winning in a multitude of unique ways, as he can score from all three levels offensively, is a lockdown perimeter defender and always plays at 110%. He finished off a couple of layups through contact tonight as well, including a big and-one early in the second half. When Kindberg is locked in an executing his role, it opens up a lot for Worthington Christian on both ends of the floor.

Gavin Foe (6'3 WG / Johnstown / 2021): While Foe struggled knocking down shots from the perimeter tonight, he made his presence felt on both ends throughout the entirety of the game. Foe did a great job handling DJ Moore on the defensive end, as despite Moore getting his, many of the buckets he converted on were in the teeth of some tough defense. Foe is a lockdown defender on that end of the floor with his quickness, athleticism and size, making him a solid matchup for the Liberty commit. Offensively, Foe got to the rim with ease on several occasions, finishing off several looks inside and creating for others. He also showed his ability to handle the ball against several different matchups all night as he is forced to run the point for Johnstown. In a conference where most teams won't have a matchup for him size wise and athleticism wise, Foe is bound to put up some big time numbers in the LCL this season.