COLUMBUS, Ohio -- In front of a lively crowd, senior Sean Jones was hotter than the temperature outside as he led his team to an emphatic victory over St. Charles. Jones’ 29 points led the way for Gahanna as the Lions took it to St. Charles and captured a second-straight district championship by a score of 66-39. 

Jones and St. Charles junior Chase Walker both started out blazing as the point guard scored eight of his team's first 10 and Walker scored the first six for the Cardinals. That start only got better as the Marquette commit picked up a steal for a lay-up as well as adding another basket to give him 14 in the opening quarter as his Lions led 17-9 after the first. 

Action started in the second quarter with a Josh Whiteside steal and layup to create a 10 point gap. Whiteside followed that up with another bucket in the lane before St. Charles junior Max Colucy scored for the Cardinals to cut the lead to nine. Jones followed that up with a triple from the top of the key that made him 7/7 from the field at the moment and put the lead at 24-12.

As the quarter progressed, Gahanna kept St. Charles at bay while applying pressure as Lions senior and Toledo commit Javan Simmons buried some more free throws to give Gahanna a 30-16 towards the end of the half. The first half ended with Gahanna senior Whiteside throwing down a dunk that almost tore the rim off the hinges to send the Lions into the locker room with a 32-19 lead. 

The third quarter was where the Gahanna defense was stifling, only allowing nine points the entire frame. It started with Simmons and Jones getting buckets for their team as the lead ballooned to 36-19 before Walker hit a free throw and a paint bucket to cut the lead to 14.

From there, a 10-0 run started that was spurred by the defense of the Lions and fast break points. Simmons got a steal and block in this stretch to get the Lions running, Jones nailed two free throws off of a St. Charles' technical foul and Whiteside capped it off with a block at the rim. With Gahanna in firm control, the Marquette Sean Jones dropped in a three to end the third quarter then skipped around the court with confidence as his team took a 55-28 lead into the final quarter. 

With the Cardinals trailing big entering the fourth quarter, the Lions poured on a little more before taking out their key players up by 21. St. Charles junior big Walker scored 16 points to lead the way for the Cards, picking up an offer from Toledo following the game, with junior Zach Auletta behind him with 11 and senior Issac Searls with seven. John Levy added three and Colucy added a bucket as well to round out the scoring for St. Charles. 

Gahanna was led by the phenomenal play of senior point Sean Jones and his 29 points and only three total missed shots on the afternoon. Paint beast and Toledo commit Simmons added 18 points while only missing one shot from the field and senior Whiteside had eight points and only one missed shot from the field while effecting the game on the defensive end of the court. Dylan Scott got in late and scored a couple baskets while the trio of Jesse Battle, Eljae Deas and Cameron Johnson each added a bucket and Maurice Charlton added one-point. 

Gahanna moves on to the Division I regional semifinals to take on undefeated Westerville South on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. at Ohio Dominican.