As Kawayne Gaston went through his first pregame shootaround with his new teammates Tuesday night, Porters Chapel Academy officials were busy making sure all the I’s were dotted and T’s crossed on his basketball permission slip.

For their athletic programs, it was like scanning over a winning lottery ticket to make sure all the numbers were correct.

Gaston, who transferred from Vicksburg High shortly before the Christmas break, made an impressive debut for PCA in a 62-22 victory over Veritas. He finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds in his first organized basketball game in nearly three years, and perhaps gave a glimpse of things to come.

“I thought I was out of shape for basketball,” Gaston said with a laugh. “I didn’t get too tired, though, so I did better than I thought.”

Gaston is more than just another transfer for PCA.

In football, he rushed for 1,028 yards and 12 touchdowns for Vicksburg last season and earned all-county honors as a running back. He was also a starting outfielder for the baseball team in 2010. His impact in those sports — especially football, where PCA returns a solid young core of players next season — figures to be huge.

“This is a great environment I’m around,” Gaston said. “I’m willing to help anyone that’s willing to help me. I’m going to play to the best of my ability. They haven’t won a championship in a long time, so I’m hoping I can help them do that.”

Gaston, a junior, said switching schools was something his family felt was best.

“No hard feelings. It’s something I had to do,” he said. “It’s just something me and my parents wanted to do, and that’s all there is to it.”

Gaston hadn’t played an organized basketball game since he was a freshman at Vicksburg, but wasted no time showing off his athletic ability Tuesday night. He grabbed seven rebounds in the first quarter and had nine by halftime as PCA took a 20-point lead into the break. He finished 7-for-14 shooting from the field.

“He’s rusty, but he still looked good,” PCA coach E.J. Creel said. “He’s just a natural athlete. He’s rusty, but he knows where he’s supposed to be on the floor.”

Gaston and his teammates had plenty of opportunities to snatch loose basketballs. Veritas was 7-for-44 from the field in the game — an icy 15.9 percent clip that was improved by three baskets in the last 41⁄2 minutes.

Four of PCA’s five starters had at least six rebounds, and they outrebounded Veritas 46-20.

Ted Brisco finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds, while Matthew Warren had seven points and 10 boards. Even point guard Peter Harris managed to grab six, to go along with a game-high 17 points.

Jake Boyd added 12 points for PCA (5-5, 5-3 District 5-A). Randy Greenfield led Veritas (6-5, 5-2) with nine points and seven rebounds.

“We played a good defensive game. Offensively, we were slow starting out. All in all, it didn’t look terrible,” Creel said.

(G) Veritas 59, PCA 19

Airiel O’Bannor had a game-high 16 points and five steals, Carly Donovan added 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Veritas (13-4, 7-1) cruised past Porters Chapel (1-11, 1-7).

PCA was just 9-for-51 (17.6 percent) from the field for the game. The poor shooting led to a 37-11 halftime deficit that never came close to closing up.

Jane Greer and Claire Mims led the Lady Eagles with six points apiece. Mims also had five steals, while Marshedia Graise had five points, seven rebounds and four steals.

(G) Sebastopol 46,St. Aloysius 21

Sebastopol put the clamps on St. Al defensively, holding the Lady Flashes without a field goal until late in the third quarter, and eased on to a division win.

Sara Howington led St. Al with 10 points and nine rebounds, while Ashtin Giambrone scored eight points.