Boys basketball: Warren falls to DePaul Prep in regular season finale

Braylon Walker had 20 points and Jaxson Davis battled for 15 in a losing effort as Warren dropped their regular season finale 58-54 against DePaul Prep in a showdown of 4A state title contenders on Thursday evening in Gurnee.

The teams brought a combined 53-5 record into this highly anticipated matchup and both DePaul (26-3, 8-0) and Warren will enter the postseason as No. 1 seeds in their respective sectionals.

For a Warren team that wrapped up an undefeated North Suburban Conference run earlier in the week, this was a much needed measuring stick as the Blue Devils (28-3, 14-0) are eager to make another trip to the Champaign in March.

“DePaul Prep is a really good team. A well oiled machine, I would say,” said Davis, a 4-star recruit who chatted with Iowa coach Ben McCollum after the game. “We didn’t shoot our best [and] only lost by four — knowing that in the back of my head, going into the playoffs, is a positive coming out of this game.”

Blue Devils coach Zack Ryan agrees.

“This was a good game for us. I thought we got better,” said the fourth year Warren coach. “We just told our guys, this was a good game for us…we needed a tight physical game. We just haven't had many of them this year.”

This one certainly met that standard and the Blue Devils came out of the tunnel hot in front of a packed house. They jumped out to a 6-0 first quarter lead behind senior Avonn King. He scored consecutive baskets inside to get the action started.

“He's got so much heart and he's just a tough player,” said Warren coach Zack Ryan. “For being undersized for a post, he can really score down low. And he's a great offensive rebounder for his size.”

The Blue Devils made it 12-7 with 1:07 to play when Jaxson Davis elevated for a left handed slam over the DePaul defense, nearly bringing the Warren gym down with him.

“I feel like I've been dunking the ball more this year,” said Davis. “I just saw the opportunity, saw the open lane, and just rose up.”

DePaul 6-foot-5 senior Zion Lee quieted the crowd when he nailed a corner three to make it 12-10 Warren to close the opening quarter. He finished the night with 12 points and 5 rebounds.

Lee laid in a pass from DePaul guard AJ Chambers a few minutes later to give the Rams their first lead of the night.

Rykan Woo went to work from there. The senior guard slashed to the rim several times and swung momentum in DePaul’s direction throughout the second quarter.

“I give a lot of my credit to my teammates. You know, they got me open,” said Woo, who finished the night with 15 points. “They put me in the right spots to make the right play.”

Both Woo and Lee played pivotal roles on defense as well. The Rams sent consistent double and triple teams at Davis each time he touched the ball, forcing the Blue Devils star to pass the ball early in possessions.

“We knew Jaxson Davis, he's probably the best, or if not, one of the best players in the state,” said Woo. “Obviously that's a tough guard. But, you know, we really worked hard and I give a lot of the credit to not only our players, but also our coaches, you know, they prepared us really well for that.”

DePaul built a double digit lead at times and eventually took a 31-22 advantage into the locker room.

With Davis being swarmed, Warren opened the second half with senior Braylon Walker taking a primary role in the offense.

“We got the ball moving more,” said Walker. “It opened up more opportunities. We set screens, moved hard off the ball, opened up stuff for me, and then eventually, it would open stuff with Jaxson.”

The Blue Devils chipped away and remained within single digits for most of the third.

DePaul standout Rashaun Porter slammed home a two handed dunk with just over three minutes to play to make it 49-39 and Warren could not quite pull back even as the Rams took home a statement win.

“This is awesome,” said DePaul coach Tom Kleinschmidt. “This is a Super-Sectional, State Final game — if we would’ve lost, we would’ve got better. And we're glad we made mistakes down to the inbounding. So we learned from the win, which was great.”

DePaul will play the winner of Taft vs Highland Park next Wednesday at Maine East High School in their regional opener. Warren will face the winner of Round Lake vs Zion-Benton at home again in Gurnee.

“It was like that in my freshman year. We hosted regionals here,” said Davis. “It was a great crowd. Really, really good environment for us.”

“Hopefully they bring back the crowd this year as we try to win a regional championship,” he added.