Pickerington North 54, Westerville Central 48 (OT)
Arness Lawson shined down the stretch, leads Panthers on the road
WESTERVILLE, OH - The first game of the season usually isn’t a team’s best and it’s not easy to have a debut against a competitive conference foe, but Pickerington North was able to persevere at Westerville Central and defeated the Warhawks 54-48 in overtime led by a superstar performance from senior Arness Lawson.
It wasn’t an ideal start for Lawson either. After he picked up his second foul just past the four minute mark in the first quarter, the Duquesne signee sat on the bench for the remainder of the half with just two points.
Even through a series of some turnovers and missed shots, Lawson could only be held back for so long, literally and figuratively. The 6’2 guard, who could be considered a potential District Player of the Year, became nearly unguardable, as he put up 12 points in the final two periods and scored all eight of the Panthers points in overtime. He finished with 22 total along with eight rebounds.
“I told [Arness] early on, rather than him trying to pass and be unselfish…I wanted him to understand, ‘you’re our best option right now,” head coach Jason Bates said after the game. “I have to rely on him a lot, we do."
The mark of a great player, Lawson took his coach’s advice in stride and didn’t let the slow start limit him, as he began to aggressively attack the rim and get to the foul line, where he was an effective 8-of-9 from the stripe.
“Coach said they were going to be on me and I’m like ‘bet’, so I had to keep my composure, keep my head down, get to the rim and draw fouls,” Lawson said. “He said ‘game on the line, just go to the bucket’ and that’s what I’m going to do.”
