Top prep hoops performances of the week, state title edition
This is the championship edition of the High Five.
With the conclusion of the prep basketball season, this week we’re honoring the top performances from Benet and Warren — the two boys teams that played Saturday in the Class 4A state title game.
Benet (33-5), which finished second in 2014, 2016 and 2023, won its first title with an intense 55-54 victory over the Blue Devils (27-11), who finished second for the third time.
Saturday’s game marked the first time in the history of the IHSA boys basketball tournament — starting in 1908 — two teams from the Daily Herald coverage area played each other in the final.
5. Jayden Wright, Benet
To win a state title game, you first have to get there.
Wright, a 5-foot-11 junior guard, powered the Redwings into the semifinals with a game-high 21 points in a 58-50 supersectional victory over Quincy.
He scored 10 points in the 56-47 semifinal win over Evanston and finished the season with 15 points and 7 rebounds against Warren.
4. Javerion Banks, Warren
Banks, an all-conference player as a junior, missed several weeks of his senior season after having surgery on his leg and developed into a huge factor off the bench during the Blue Devils’ playoff run.
The 6-1 guard scored 14 points and grabbed 7 boards in the 66-49 semifinal win over Rich Twp. In the title game, Banks tallied a game-high 22 points in the second half and added 5 rebounds.
3. Blake Fagbemi, Benet
Blake’s older brother, Brayden, was part of the 2023 team that lost to Moline in the 4A final.
Blake brought the family back to Champaign last weekend and won that elusive title.
After the 6-1 senior guard scored 10 points, pulled down 7 rebounds and dished 8 assists in the semifinals, Fagbemi had 14 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists in the title game.
Fagbemi scored 14 points in the supersectional.
2. Jaxson Davis, Warren
Don’t be surprised to see Davis lead the Blue Devils back to Champaign.
The 6-1 guard, one of the state’s top sophomores, nearly carried Warren to its first state title with 17 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists in the final.
In the semifinals, Davis poured in a game-high 27 points. He had 14 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in the supersectional.
1. Daniel Pauliukonis, Benet
Few players in the state were better than Pauliukonis in the playoffs.
The 6-9 senior, committed to Southern Illinois University, was a key reason the Redwings closed the season by winning 15 of 16 games. The lone loss to Evanston at the beginning of February was avenged in Champaign.
Pauliukonis started last week by scoring 17 points against Quincy. Then he had 11 points and 7 rebounds in the semifinals and 17 points and 6 boards against Warren.