Boys basketball: Warren stays perfect in NSC, sweeps Stevenson

Warren remained perfect in North Suburban Conference play as Jaxson Davis grinded out 18 points in a 64-49 road victory over Stevenson on Friday night in Lincolnshire.

While the Blue Devils (23-2, 11-0) opened things up late, a slow tempo led to a low scoring first quarter. It was 12-7 Warren after the opening eight minutes and Davis had only scored 2 points.

“We know these games are gonna be grinders,” said Davis, a battled tested 4-star junior guard who took home Mr. Basketball honors in the state of Illinois last season and holds offers from several Big Ten schools, including Illinois, Purdue, Indiana, and Michigan.

“Obviously, there’s no shot clock in Illinois, so we understand at the end of the season, conference teams are going to try to hold the ball,” he added.

The strategy worked to the Patriots (17-8, 6-4) advantage, as they were able to keep things much closer against Warren than they did during their Jan. 9 matchup in Gurnee, which the Blue Devils won 85-46.

Davis hung 36 on Stevenson in that one; however, the shots weren’t quite falling the same way Friday, as he would only connect on one three-pointer.

“Stevenson did some different things that definitely kind of threw us off a little bit,” said Warren coach Zack Ryan. “For us, it was good. Kind of a good test to see, like, how we would respond when we're not shooting the ball that well.”

That meant pushing the ball inside, whether it was Davis driving, or 6-foot-4 senior guard Braylon Walker.

Davis got himself going in the second quarter, adding 7 points. He cut inside for a floater at the buzzer to make it 33-25 Warren heading into the locker room at halftime.

So did Walker, who scored 6 before the half on his way to a 14-point night.

“When shots aren't falling, I definitely try to get to downhill, get to the basket, get fouled, see the ball going in at the free throw line” said Walker. “And then you need to make sure as a team, when shots aren't falling, we still stick to the defensive game plan.”

Stevenson senior guard Donovan Williams pressure tested that game plan throughout this one.

He scored a game-high 22 for the Patriots and kept his team in the ballgame as they looked for offense without senior Rocco Pagliocca.

“This is definitely a state team that we just went against, they're really good,” said Williams. “So this definitely prepares us, playing a high level matchup going into the postseason.”

Williams knocked down a three with 1:40 to play in the third and then followed that up by connecting on a midrange look to bring his Patriots to within single digits at 44-37 in the closing minute of the quarter.

With the Stevenson crowd back in the game, Davis took on the leading role for Warren and put his big game experience to the test.

After missing an open look from three, he sprinted in to grab his own rebound and flipped it in for two to end the third.

He then fought his way to the basket to open the fourth, scoring on an acrobatic layup and earning a trip to the line for a three-point play.

After quickly scoring again on his next trip down the floor, the Patriot threat was extinguished with the Blue Devils back up by 12.

“I'll say that's like my biggest role on the team, just making plays,” said Davis. “If that's finding the right guy or shooting the shot, I would just say make [the] right plays and just make winning plays at the end of the day to be successful.”

That’s what he was able to do in this one. Warren did not look back and clinched a season sweep over Stevenson.

Despite the loss, Patriots coach Will Benson was happy with the improvements his team brought into their rematch with the top team in the North Suburban.

“I know we gave up 64, but I thought we guarded pretty well,” said Benson. “Listen, we made up 25 points. That's pretty hard to do in 3 weeks…not a win, obviously, we're not talking about moral victors, but at the same point, [we]played a lot better, you know, so that was encouraging for sure.”

They will look to bounce back against Evanston on Tuesday before they begin to look ahead to the postseason.

“Our league is really tough,” said Benson. “We've had a good non-con schedule. So I think that we certainly will be battle tested going into it, no question.”