Oh, brother: Another edition of Warren excellence

Everyone always thinks that the babies of the family have it so easy.

Mom and Dad are broken in. And supposedly, they tolerate far more from their youngest children than they ever did from their oldest.

While that may be true, being a younger sibling can have its drawbacks.

When older siblings pave a path of gold, life for the babies of the family can sometimes be the furthest thing from a walk in the park.

Just ask Warren juniors Darius Paul and Nathan Boothe.

They’re the younger siblings of arguably the two best basketball players in Warren history: Brandon Paul on the boys side and Sarah Boothe on the girls side.

Both Brandon and Sarah earned the highest individual award in the state as high school seniors: Mr. Basketball and Ms. Basketball, respectively.

Both are now major Division I college basketball players.

Brandon is a key contributor for the Illinois men’s basketball team while Sarah plays the same role for the women’s basketball team at nationally-ranked Stanford.

Talk about casting a big shadow. Talk about having to follow in big footsteps.

“We try not to talk about that with Darius and Nathan because I would imagine that it would be hard to have to follow who they are following,” Warren coach Chuck Ramsey said. “I know what a great player Sarah Boothe was. And Brandon left here as the most talented and decorated player in the history of Warren boys basketball.

“I would imagine there is a big part of both Darius and Nathan that wants to establish their own identities and their own achievements.”

Day by day, game by game, Darius Paul and Nathan Boothe are doing just that.

Together, and separately, they are a big reason that the 22-3 Blue Devils have put together one of their most successful regular seasons in years. At 11-0 in the North Suburban Lake Division, Warren cruised to the division title and will play for their fifth league title in 11 years on Wednesday.

Ranked in the state nearly all season, the Blue Devils also earned the coveted No. 1 seed in the Barrington sectional.

Paul, a slippery, 6-foot-6 forward, and Boothe, a physical, 6-foot-8 center, are the top two scores on the team at about 11 and 10 points per game respectively. They are also among the top rebounders and shot-blockers for the Blue Devils.

“A lot of people have big expectations for me and Nathan. A lot of people like to compare us to (Brandon and Sarah). It can get aggravating at times,” said Darius Paul, who can drain 3-pointers just as easily as he can bang inside. “Nathan and I talk about how if we can keep winning and our team can do what we want to do in the tournament, then we can out-shine both of them (Brandon and Sarah).”

Darius and Nathan want to win a state championship. It’s something that neither Brandon nor Sarah was able to do at Warren.

It’s something that would distinguish Darius and Nathan in a big way from their seemingly larger-than-life siblings.

“I hope they are able to do that,” Brandon Paul said of a Warren state title. “Darius and Nathan have the potential to do great things and their team is really good this year.

“I know people are always comparing Darius to me, asking him about being my brother and I’m sure that’s frustrating. Winning state would be a great way for him to show people that he’s not just my brother, that he’s a great player on his own. I think if he works hard, he’ll do that anyway. I think he’s got the potential to be even better than me.”

Darius has been trying for quite some time to get the best of Brandon in their heated games of one-on-one in the driveway. Every now and then, Darius gets a hard-fought victory.

“Brandon is a really good all-around player. He’s tough to beat,” Darius said. “But I’m thankful I’ve gotten to play against him all these years. I think he’s changed my game and he’s made me better.”

Nathan, meanwhile, is now getting the best of Sarah in most of their games.

“We played (in the fall) when she was home and I beat her 7-0,” chuckled Nathan, whose size and strength and shooting touch from the perimeter makes him a tough matchup. “We got into a little fight. We get pretty competitive.

“It’s funny because a lot of my friends and teammates always ask me when I’m going to get as good as my sister. They like to joke about that. But I’ve been beating her since seventh grade.”

Boothe says he’ll never forget the first time he beat his sister.

“She was always beating me before that. She would just back down and shoot right over me. I was so excited to finally beat her,” Boothe said. “I think she knew that me beating her was going to happen sooner or later.”

Sooner or later, Nathan Boothe will no longer be in his sister’s shadow. At all. Sarah Boothe is convinced of that.

“I think there was a pressure for Nathan, especially when he was a freshman and sophomore and new at Warren,” she said. “As a family, we wouldn’t put pressure on him, but I think there was an unspoken pressure at school because I have some awards up there and people see that. People want to make those comparisons.

“But now, I think he’s established that he’s a force to be reckoned with on his own. He not just my younger brother anymore. He’s Nathan Boothe. It’s more about him now.”

Ditto for Darius Paul. It’s his time now, too.

The torch of basketball greatness at Warren has officially been passed.