Just two weekends ago, the most talked-about high school kid since Zack Morris was in Columbus, taking center stage on the floor of the Schottenstein Center.

LeBron James brought his high-flying Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary basketball team to the state capital to square off against defending Division I state champions Columbus Brookhaven.

St. Vincent-St. Mary held off a furious second-half rally by the local team to escape with a 67-62 overtime victory, but the battle between two teams was only one of the major attractions that night.

Before the final whistle blew, James, who is generally regarded as the most talented basketball player who isn’t old enough to legally consume alcohol, had almost been upstaged by someone a full 12 inches shorter than him.

Andrew Lavender, a 5-foot-8-inch senior point guard for Brookhaven, collected just about as many “oohs” and “aahs” as James did from the near-capacity crowd.

Lavender, who is headed to play for Oklahoma University basketball coach Kelvin Sampson and his Sooners next year, drew the crowd’s attention with his silky-smooth ball-handling ability, while James stuck mostly to acrobatic dunks, blocks and fade-away jumpers to awe those in attendance.

Occasionally, the two even found themselves in a more personal battle. James guarded Lavender in isolation near the perimeter on several possessions at the end of each half.

“Let’s get real — (fans) want to see LeBron James and Andrew Lavender, two of the best players in the country,” James said of the matchup.

While that head-to-head battle may have been the main event for some fans, the contest that mattered the most — the one between the actual teams — was a highly competitive clash as well.

Lavender helped his team mount a huge comeback in the second half to almost sneak out of the arena with a victory.

But in the end, the diminutive ball-handler was just an inch short — from the charity stripe.

With 10 seconds left in a game knotted at 59, Lavender stole the ball from James and drove down the court before getting hacked by James’ teammate, Sian Cotton. An intentional foul was called, meaning Lavender would get two free throws plus Brookhaven would get the ball out of bounds.

Lavender failed to capitalize, missing both free throws off the front iron and then bricking a floater on the final possession of regulation.

“Andrew Lavender hasn’t missed a free throw since about the fifth grade,” James said after the game. “Something must have come over him.”

Brookhaven basketball coach Bruce Howard knew exactly what it was.

“It’s called fatigue,” Howard said. “When a shooter’s shot falls short, usually it’s because the legs are gone, but I certainly couldn’t afford to take him out at that point.”

So the game went on, as did James and Lavender. Neither player took a seat on the bench the entire game.

James finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds, four blocks, three assists and three steals.

Lavender scored 26 points and added three assists.

Afterward, the victor was easily noticeable. James was all smiles as he talked about the outcome, while Lavender looked as if he could barely stand up while trying to survive his post-game press conference.

“We’ve been trying to get this game scheduled for a long time, trying to figure out who the best team in Ohio is,” James said. “I know you all wanted to know, and we also wanted to know. I’m glad we got this game in.”

If not for James, the outcome likely would have been far different. The high-school senior, who has appeared on the cover of nearly every major sporting magazine in recent months and is already considered to be a shoe-in to be the No. 1 pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, lived up to his billing. He shot 50 percent from the field, had a strong day on the boards and made several pretty no-look passes.

Lavender, who knows quite a bit about James’ abilities, thinks the Akron star has earned the attention he has garnered.

“On the court, he’s just another player to me, but off the court he deserves all the hype and everything,” Lavender said. “I played against him in the summertime in some AAU stuff and I played on his team in Italy, so I know his game. I’ve seen him play a lot.”

After seeing him play up close and personal for a full 36 minutes, Lavender looked drained.

His coach, who appeared to have at least a little more energy than his star player, talked about the difficulty of trying to prepare for a player of James’ caliber.

“He’s 6 feet 8 inches, he can handle the ball, he’s got good range and overall, he’s just a very gifted player,” Howard said. “And if you mess around with him too much, he could end up with 17 or 18 assists.”

There is one other thing Howard failed to mention that James can do exceptionally well — carry his team to victory, even if it means guarding someone a foot shorter than him.