GAHANNA, Ohio -- For an early season matchup on a Monday, the atmosphere at Gahanna Lincoln High School felt like a Friday in March. With No. 1 Westerville South traveling to take on No. 5 Gahanna, the two regional finalists from last year battled down to the wire, with the visiting Wildcats coming out on top, 58-53.

The key to Westerville South's big victory was none other than senior center Kaleb Wesson, who finished with a game-high 27 points and 16 rebounds in front of his future college coach Thad Matta of Ohio State. 

While Gahanna jumped out to a 17-11 lead after a quarter of play, the Lions would maintain a slim lead for most of the second quarter. However, Westerville South put together a 15-8 run in the final 4:56 of the second quarter, heading into halftime with a 30-28 advantage.

In the third quarter, Westerville South took control, extending its lead to as much as seven points, leading 38-31 with 4:48 to go in the period. However, Gahanna would not back down, putting together a 10-4 run in the final four minutes of the third, heading into the final frame trailing 41-40.

In a fourth quarter that had its fair share of highlights, Gahanna just could not put a run together to take control of Monday's contest for good. After a controversial charge was called on sophomore guard Josh Corbin of Gahanna, Westerville South would extend its lead to 47-44 with five minutes remaining.

Gahanna would storm back, taking a momentary three-point lead at 50-47. In championship fashion, Westerville South answered, as senior forward Antoine Smith knocked down a three to tie the game at 50 with 2:37 remaining.

Westerville South would go on a 6-0 run from there on, taking a 56-50 lead with a little less than a minute remaining. Corbin would knock down a three for Gahanna with 47.9 seconds to play, cutting the Westerville South lead to three.

The Lions would not score again, as Westerville South knocked down two more free throws to take home a hard-fought 58-53 victory.

The reason for it all was Wesson, who put on a show, knocking down 11 of 12 free throws, and two threes, while dominating on the glass. Playing in front of Ohio State head man Matta and assistant coach Greg Paulus, Wesson looked the part of a Big Ten big man. Giving Westerville South the inside presence it needed to keep Gahanna at a distance, Wesson was the key for the Wildcats.

Nearly as important in the second half for Westerville South was Smith, who scored 12 of his 15 points in the final two quarters. Knocking down two big threes in the fourth quarter, Smith finally awoke in the second half, giving Wesson a secondary scorer to lean on.

Westerville South also got good production out of senior forward Jake Garrison, who finished with 10 points and nine rebounds, making several key hustle plays for the Wildcats.

For Gahanna, sophomore forward Jordan Mitchell led all Lions scorers with 10 points and four rebounds. Bothered by cramps in the second half, Mitchell missed most of the fourth quarter as Westerville South took control. 

Corbin added eight points, while junior guard Seth Goodson had a productive second half, finishing with nine points. Junior guard Randy Olverson added eight points and four steals off the bench, giving Gahanna's second unit a huge boost of energy and momentum. 

With the win, Westerville South moves on to face OCC-Buckeye league foe Olentangy on Friday, while Gahanna moves on to open up OCC-Ohio league play at No. 7 Reynoldsburg, who took down Walnut Ridge on Monday.

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