Recapping When Sides Collide

When you get eight ranked teams squaring off in four games on one day, including so many of the state’s top players in action, there are plenty of storylines and takeaways.

That’s what the annual When Sides Collide event at Benet provided us. Here are seven stories and takes from a jam-packed day of high-stakes games on Saturday.

The star matchup: Davion vs. Jaxson

The highly-anticipated Davion Thompson-Jaxson Davis clash was reminiscent of some past When Sides Collide hyped individual showdowns.

The event showcased the scintillating tandem of Jalen Brunson and Tyler Ulis together on the same floor in 2014. Brunson poured in 32 points to lead Stevenson to a win over Marian Catholic as Ulis scored 23..

When Sides Collide brought DJ Steward and Adam Miller together in 2018 when Miller put on a show with nine straight three-pointers and a game-high 32 points to lead Morgan Park to win over Fenwick. Steward went for 20 points and 10 rebounds.

This year it was Thompson and Davis, two stars very familiar with one another as Meanstreets club basketball teammates. Davis and Warren rose to the occasion. Davis, the quintessential point guard, flourished all game with 23 points and eight assists while guarding Thompson at the other end. Thompson led the Raiders with 20.

The list of what these two do for their two teams is endless. And how they go about it and handle themselves while doing it is even more impressive.

Warren’s wild four-week ride

We didn’t need to see Warren take care of red-hot Bolingbrook to know the potential the Blue Devils possess. Coach Zack Ryan’s team did win 31 games last year, won a sectional and began this season ranked No. 2 in the preseason.

But Warren’s very impressive performance in the win over Bolingbrook capped off what has been a four-week rollercoaster.

The Blue Devils beat Young and Lincoln Park to win the Proviso West Holiday Tournament in late December. They then went 3-4 over their next seven games, including league losses to Lake Zurich and Lake Forest.

In Warren’s defense, Ryan’s team has played very little together as a whole due to injuries. But it all came together in an eye-opening effort against Bolingbrook.

Yes, Davis, the superstar, remains the catalyst. But junior Braylon Walker (21 points), who shined this past summer, played perhaps his best game of the season. Steady senior Jack Wolf (20 points) provided some offensive punch in the first half against Bolingbrook when the Blue Devils really needed it. And most importantly, talented veteran senior spark Javerion Banks is in the midst of dusting off the cobwebs after missing two months.

When you combine how Warren looked Saturday with the postseason road that awaits them a month from now, the Blue Devils, despite a rocky month of January, remain a favorite to be playing in Champaign this March.

Defending 4A champs looked the part

Homewood-Flossmoor, the defending Class 4A state champs, beat a then-ranked Bloom back in November. But despite the sparkling record on the season the Vikings had not beaten a ranked team since.

That all changed with one monster win over top-ranked DePaul Prep on Saturday. H-F is talented and a significant threat, but it also needed this win.

Coach Jamere Dismukes’ team played its best game of the season. The Vikings played fast but also more physical and aggressive against a team that thrives on those latter two traits.

Fueled by the sterling play of point guard Jayden Tyler, there is definitely a new perception of how high the ceiling is now for the Vikings. Tyler has been that good to help change the narrative, and the play of the supporting cast continues to evolve.

Arden Eaves, the lengthy, smooth 6-6 wing, was one of those players who took his game to another level in the win over DePaul. He let things come to him and was calm, cool and effective in stretching the defense with his three-point shooting and getting to his spots off the dribble.

Eaves, who is headed to Division II Lewis, was all-around terrific with 17 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.

Remember, very few of these players have been through the grind of a high-level, big expectation season. Some were along for the ride last season but Tyler was really the only returning player that impacted that state title run.

There is a freshman in Darrius Hawkins and newcomers in Arden Eaves and Brent Taylor from Thornwood and Lincoln-Way East, respectively. The humble beginnings from those players has to lead to patience in getting them acclimated and ready for what H-F is striving to do: repeat.

Dismukes’ team looked the part on Saturday. And he's a coach who went through and learned how to piece together a "new team" and win big a year ago.

The unknown ranked teams didn’t disappoint

Marist and Waubonsie Valley came into Saturday both ranked and with a combined record of 42-2. But both were in need of a marquee win at this year’s When Sides Collide to silence some critics, whether warranted or not.

Due to their schedules, neither team has been seen a whole lot up to this point. For ranked teams, they’ve been slightly off the radar up until this week.

Marist is out of sight, out of mind during all-eyes-on-you holiday tournament time when it travels four hours south to Centralia. The annual showdown with Brother Rice, which was a huge win for the Redhawks last week, is relegated to just the fans of the Battle of Pulaski.

Waubonsie, meanwhile, hasn’t played in any major events or shootouts and ripped through the Jacobs Holiday Tournament without anyone paying attention.

The matchup at Benet provided these two teams an opportunity to play on a big stage, in an energized atmosphere and against a prime opponent.

The two didn’t disappoint in the When Sides Collide opener. Marist and Waubonsie engaged in a back-and-forth game that was tied with less than three minutes to play. What really stood out throughout this game was the high-level shot-making ability of both teams. They matched one another time after time.

It took time for Marist to right the ship offensively against Waubonsie’s funky ball press zone defense. Marist, thanks to a big-time performance from Rokas Zilys (25 points) and a late lift from 6-7 Stephen Brown –– the two hit consecutive, back-breaking late threes –– pulled out a 65-56 win.

When the state tournament tips off next month all the talk in the 4A Rich Sectional will be centered around Homewood-Flossmoor and the host, Rich. But don’t dismiss this Marist team.

With Brown, Zilys, Karson Thomas and Marquis Vance, it’s as physically put-together a team as you’ll find. Plus, it’s an extremely balanced team and has even more growing to do in coming weeks with it being junior-dominated.

When it comes to Waubonsie Valley, the Warriors are very good and a legitimate threat come sectional time. No, they haven’t faced the strongest schedule. Both can be true. Still, this is a talented and entertaining team with a bonafide star in Tyreek Coleman.

A loss this season was inevitable for the previously unbeaten Warriors. It’s just magnified more when the schedule is what it is and it comes in a high-profile event against the toughest team on your schedule with the most eyes on you.

Coleman is a dynamic player and together with under-appreciated Moses Wilson form a pretty electric 1-2 punch. The defense it plays is a real challenge for an opposing team in the postseason with little to no prep time.

Can that supporting cast provide enough valued production and hold up in a top-heavy sectional?

Waubonsie Valley joins Bolingbrook and Benet in what will undoubtedly be the top three sectional seeds.

Can Benet’s dominating win be a springboard?

A couple of years ago Benet put it on Kenwood in the second half of its When Sides Collide matchup before an electrifying home crowd en route to a 67-53 win. The Redwings didn’t lose again until the state championship nearly two months later.

Last year Benet fell to Thornton in its When Sides Collide game, lost a few more times in the regular season and fizzled in a loss to Bolingbrook in the sectional semifinals.

Which road will this Benet team take following a second half dismantling of a loaded Rich team that was ranked No. 2? Benet put it on Rich in a resounding 73-56 win.

With power-packed point guard Blake Fagbemi, who is putting together an outstanding season, Benet plays very well when it gets up and down the floor.

Fagbemi, a stat-sheet stuffer, is such a threat using his athleticism and strength in getting to the rim or his passing acumen to set up teammates. There is more spacing and open looks as a result of their transition play than in the halfcourt. The Redwings moved and shared the ball and it resulted in shooting over 60 percent from the field.

The balance of its Big Four — Fagbemi, 6-9 Daniel Pauliukonis, 7-footer Colin Stack and shooter Jayden Wright — was on full display. All four put up double figures with Fagbemi leading the way with 22 points, 11 rebounds and six assists.

Wright, who scored 17, is such a threat with his shooting range. Stack is a 7-footer who had 15 points, eight rebounds, five blocks and stepped out and buried a three. And Pauliukonis was active and scored 14 points in a variety of ways in front of his future college coach, Southern Illinois coach Scott Nagy.

Heralded Coleman shines; so does unheralded Zilys

When it came to individual performances at this year’s When Sides Collide, Warren’s Jaxson Davis was the day’s shiniest star.

But Waubonsie Valley’s Tyreek Coleman provided perhaps the most oohs and aahs in scoring 24 points, while Zilys’ fiery-performance was a real eye-opener.

With big, physical defenders, Marist threw everything at Coleman in trying to contain the star guard, especially in the second half. Whether it was explosive bursts to the basket, hitting deep threes or setting up teammates, Coleman was dazzling. He starred a year ago, yes, but there is a definitive difference in his presence and command this season as a senior.

The 6-2 point guard is among the top five senior prospects in the state and is going to prove to be a huge recruiting win for Illinois State and coach Ryan Pedon.

In addition to his game-high 25 points, the relatively unknown Zilys provided so much substance for coach Brian Hynes and the Redhawks. Simply put, Zilys set the tone with his physicality, toughness, fiery spirit and shot-making ability.

Schedule gets the best of DePaul Prep?

This is clear: Homewood-Flossmoor played its best game of the year, earned the biggest win of the season and could be playing for a state championship in March.

But heading into the weekend the conversation was how H-F’s opponent, DePaul Prep, was the class of 3A — and a No. 1 team that was cruising while playing a tough slate of games. The recent schedule, however, may have caught up to the Rams.

In a three-week stretch DePaul Prep played Warren, Loyola, Mount Carmel, St. Louis Vashon, Brother Rice and Homewood-Flossmoor. That’s five locally-ranked teams and a national power in Vashon — and that’s after playing Curie and Benet in one day at Pontiac on Dec. 28.

Scheduling comes in all shapes and sizes among the highly-ranked teams. But having to play in a juiced-up environment against a top-notch team in a hyped When Sides Collide event is different for teams; the experience requires some deeper internal digging and fortitude, especially when you’ve been through a recent meat-grinder. You need to have some in reserve to survive.