The area's most promising stars sparkled at When Sides Collide

The season’s biggest events, whether a midseason shootout or a late December day at Pontiac, provide a platform and opportunity for the state’s best players and teams.

If you’re really lucky, everything comes together: elite individual performances combined with competitive games and a buzzing, jam-packed gym.

This past weekend several of the state’s best teams and players took full advantage of what the 14th edition of the When Sides Collide event at Benet provided, just as past stars did before them.

The Jalen Brunson-Tyler Ulis duel in 2014 put When Sides Collide on the map. In that third annual event, Brunson led Stevenson to a victory over Marian Catholic with 32 points while Ulis scored 23 in a classic head-to-head matchup.

In 2018, Morgan Park’s Adam Miller put on a show when squaring off with Fenwick’s DJ Steward. Miller pumped in 32 points, including at one point hitting nine straight three-pointers in the win. Steward had 20 points and 10 rebounds in defeat.

Then in 2020 Fenwick’s Bryce Hopkins finished with 37 points and 14 rebounds in a win over Max Christie of Rolling Meadows, who finished with 31 points of his own.

And last year it was a pair of sophomores, Bolingbrook’s Davion Thompson (20 points) and Warren’s Jaxson Davis (23 points, 8 assists), who were the must-see attractions.

This past Saturday at the 2026 When Sides Collide, it was Davis once again shining bright.

The 6-0 point guard is an established star based on all he’s done and accomplished over his first two-plus years leading the Blue Devils. He’s also the lone holdover from the dynamic trio that entered high school together in the Class of 2027.

While Kenwood’s Devin Cleveland and Bolingbrook’s Davion Thompson bolted for out-of-state prep schools following their sophomore years, Davis is the one still captivating crowds and being talked about locally. And he’s the one who has won — taking down Bolingbrook and Thompson last season and the only one leading a team to state, which ended last March just a whisker away from a state championship.

While Saturday’s performance won’t go down as one for the ages, it left no doubt who the best player and prospect is in the state. Davis was that good and remains a jewel for the sport in this state. He was sensational in pouring in 28 points in a loss to Benet while doing so in a raucous atmosphere.

Davis doesn’t possess the pure explosive gene a player is born with and that leads to high-flying dunks and blow-by-anyone ability. It doesn’t matter.

There is a smoothness and effortless ease Davis plays with that sets great prospects apart from the good ones. He plays a patient game, and there is always an intent with his dribbles and passes. The body control, short-area quickness, footwork, hesitations and ballhandling provides unique ways of throwing defenders off.

The basketball IQ, skill level and savviness — have you watched him manipulate ball screens? — is second nature. The live-dribble passing talent isn’t what you see out of typical players his age.

Then there is the shooting — and confidence level doing it — that is leaps and bounds above where it was just a year ago.

Davis is a bonafide high-major prospect who can play in any “Power Four” Conference. He has offers from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Purdue, Michigan and Northwestern.

But when talking to a few Blue Blood coaching staffs as I have this season about Davis, he’s also a prospect who those Blue Bloods can confidently recruit. When will one of them jump on board?

Then there are a pair of sophomores, Neuqua Valley’s Cole Kelly and Bolingbrook’s Brady Pettigrew, who also took center stage Saturday night. Even at their young age, they are two of the elite talents in the state and future high-major college players.

They didn’t disappoint.

Even after a slow start, the 6-6 Kelly still managed to rack up 29 points while pulling down 11 rebounds and blocking three shots in the come-from-behind win. Pettigrew, a 6-4 guard with so much versatility, finished with 26 points.

Players across the state will put up 29 or 26 points in a game on a given night. But what these two young stars did in piling up their points was showcase just why they’re so highly regarded as prospects.

Remember, these are hardwood pups we’re talking about with two more years of high school ahead of them. They are far from finished products. But this was a moment for them to climb another level.

Big stage. Big crowd. Big moments. And they both provided big-time plays and shot-making. They scored the basketball in ways scouts, evaluators and college coaches look for in a prospect and leave fans wanting more.

Fortunately, they have the rest of this season to enjoy and another year of Davis and two more from Kelly and Pettigrew.