CHAMPAIGN — Warren sophomore guard Jaxson Davis knew better.
Despite the Blue Devils’ record this season, Davis remained confident that winning a state championship is possible.
“Everybody looked at us having 10 losses and figured we’d have no chance downstate,” he said. “But forget that. This is a tough group of guys I have with me, and we just want to win basketball games — and now we’re so close to getting the biggest one.”
Davis made sure of that Friday night. He scored a game-high 27 points and made a game-high seven steals to lead Warren past Rich Township 66-49 in the Class 4A state semifinals at the State Farm Center.
Senior guard Javerion Banks, who missed more than half of Warren’s regular-season games after recovering from surgery to remove a bone cyst from his left femur, came off the bench to contribute 14 points and six rebounds, and senior guard Jack Wolf added 10 points and six rebounds.
The Blue Devils (27-10), who lost in a supersectional during Davis’ breakout freshman season, will play Benet (32-5) in the state championship game at 8 p.m. Saturday with a chance to win their first title in three appearances.
“The moment just came to us,” Davis said. “Our season ended early last year, and we’ve had an up-and-down year, and I feel like it’s meant to be. The shots are falling for us right now.”
The 6-foot-1 Davis made a statement that his shot was falling early against the Raptors (26-9), hitting 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to push Warren ahead 10-2. The Blue Devils didn’t relinquish the lead.
“I think it’s one of the better performances I’ve had all year,” Davis said. “It’s been a roller coaster of a year for me and our whole team. We’re playing great at the right time.”
Davis, who has offers from DePaul and Illinois, among others, was particularly good at getting to the free-throw line with savvy drives to the basket. He made 9 of 17 shots from the field and 7 of 9 from the line. He also had five rebounds and two assists.
“Jaxson isn’t just a scorer,” Wolf said. “He’s also a facilitator and is also the kind of a guy that can lead a team. Besides the points, he brings so much to his teammates. He brings defense. He picks the ball. That’s what a great player does.”
Indeed, Davis put on a clinic with his on-ball defense. Active hands and the right angles resulted in three run-out layups by Davis. Junior guard Braylon Walker gave the Raptors fits, too, with five steals.
“The main thing we talked about was being in the gaps, so it was great that Braylon and I could get some steals and get down and get some layups,” Davis said.
When Warren can play with a lead, opponents are in trouble. Davis, Walker and Banks are very effective when they’re handling the ball and trying to run time off the clock.
“There’s no shot clock, so as a point guard, it’s about being smart in the game and having a high IQ,” Davis said. “Being able to run off 30 to 40 seconds is huge.”
Davis is the ultimate security blanket.
“When we have a lead late, we can go to our set where we don’t necessarily stall, but we pull teams out, and that opens up lanes,” Warren coach Zack Ryan said.
“I don’t take him for granted. I’ve coached long enough to know that a guy like that is special. I try to push him and try to get him better. But a lot of it is just him. He’s very talented, and it showed tonight on the biggest stage.”
That stage has special meaning in Davis’ family. His father Brian Davis, a Warren assistant, played football for Illinois from 1992 to 1995.
“He loves being down here,” Jaxson Davis said. “Every time we come down here, he points out where he used to live and where he’d go. I tell him, ‘Dad, you’re so old, you were down here in the 1950s, it was so long ago.’”
Brian Davis, who coached many of Warren’s players as a longtime feeder and travel coach, acknowledged the area’s importance to him. But he’s particularly pleased to be back for his son.
“We started bringing him down here for games once he received his offer from Illinois a year ago, and I was like, ‘This is where dad played,’” Brian Davis said. “It’s an awesome atmosphere, and the fans go crazy for their players.
“He told me last year when we came down for the all-state (honors), he said, ‘We’re coming down here next year,’ and he helped make it happen.”
Steve Reaven is a freelance reporter.
