Reviewing a big week of high school basketball

The first true week of 2020 provided a ton, including conference showdowns, shootout clashes, coaching milestones and individual player scoring outbursts and scholarship offers. Here is a rewind of it all.

Aurora Christian’s Taaj Davis erupts

There are no official records when it comes to this in Illinois high school basketball, but it’s hard to imagine any player in state history who has had two 50-plus point games on back-to-back nights and scored 112 points in one weekend.

Hello, Taaj Davis.

The Aurora Christian senior guard went on a scoring rampage like no other as the Eagles beat Bishop McNamara and Chicago Christian.

Davis poured in a school record 58 points in Friday night’s 102-58 win over Bishop Mac. He followed that up with a 54-point performance in a double overtime win over Chicago Christian on Saturday night.

This coming from a player whose previous career high came in December when he scored 34 points.

“I’ve never seen anything like it in my 29 years of coaching in high school or college,” says coach Dan Beebe. “Everything he threw up went in and it all just seems so easy for him right now. The points came so naturally.”

In the 58-point game against McNamara, Davis did all of his damage in only three quarters of play. So, yes, that’s an incomprehensible 58 points in 24 minutes. He shot 23 of 32 from the field with six three-pointers and was 6 of 7 from the line.

Davis has carried a team that had huge hopes when last season ended but was decimated by transfers. Highly-regarded junior guard Jaehshon Thomas transferred to Young and small school all-stater Will Wolfe headed to Oswego East.

But behind the sterling play of Davis –– he upped his average on the year from 25 points a game to 29.6 points a game following the weekend explosion –– Aurora Christian moved to 11-2 on the season with the two weekend wins and is in first place in the Metro Suburban Blue.

The value of Davis, however, goes way beyond the scoring totals, according to Beebe, who has had the 6-0 point guard at the varsity level for four years.

“He’s evolved in so many ways as player, but his leadership –– leading us in every facet both on and off the floor –– is his greatest strength,” says Beebe. “He’s an extension of myself on the court.”

On big stage, DJ Steward puts on a show

It may have been 280 miles and four hours outside Chicago, but the show D.J. Steward put on in Saturday’s 29th annual Highland Shootout outside St. Louis resonated.

In a showdown with Christian Brothers College out of St. Louis and North Carolina five-star recruit Caleb Love, Steward not only scored a shootout record 40 points but also hit the game-winning basket in a 66-64 win.

This is the type of performance that pushes the needle when it comes to Player of the Year conversation and even consideration for McDonald’s All-American game selections.

The 6-3 guard who is bound for Duke next year is ranked No. 32 nationally by Rivals, No. 26 by 247sports and No. 23 by ESPN. That puts him right on that McDonald’s All-American game bubble, so a midseason exclamation point in a high-profile event is certainly a plus.

Offers extended

Tabbed by the City/Suburban Hoops Report in December as the best senior prospect in Illinois without a Division I scholarship, a much-deserved offer came for Joliet West guard Jamere Hill over the weekend.

The athletic 6-3 guard, who is in the midst of a breakout senior season, was offered by Toledo.

While Notre Dame’s Louis Lesmond picked up an offer from Xavier in December, teammate Troy D’Amico, a 6-6 forward who is among the top 15 prospects in the Class of 2021, nabbed an offer from Valparaiso over the weekend.

300-win club

A few successful coaches in the game either recently reached the significant milestone of 300 career wins or are about to join the 300-win club.

Benet’s Gene Heidkamp, who helped resurrect Benet into a state power over the past decade, won his 300th game when the Redwings knocked off Marian Central in an early January game. Under Heidkamp, the Redwings have won an average of 25 games a year in the past 10 seasons.

Tom Livatino, who had success at Lincoln Park before taking over Loyola Academy in 2009, won his 300th with a Jan. 7 win over St. Rita. Livatino, who is the all-time winningest coach in Loyola basketball history, now has 202 coaching wins at Loyola (the Ramblers beat St. Ignatius and St. Viator over the weekend) after compiling 100 victories at Lincoln Park.

Marian Catholic’s Mike Taylor is on the cusp of 300 wins. That’s saying something considering he took over a moribund program in 2003 and has built it into a perennial 20-plus win team with multiple regional and sectional championships.

Taylor, who has 297 career victories, picked up his biggest win of the season over the weekend to improve to 13-4. The Spartans knocked off Morgan Park Saturday night behind a 34-point performance from Iowa-bound guard Ahron Ulis.

Ismail Habib carries Lincoln Park

In the absence of head coach Pat Gordon this past week, ranked Lincoln Park managed to keep it rolling with a pair of wins, thanks to the play of Ismail Habib.

Habib is a jet-quick guard who is an established scorer and legit Division I prospect. More importantly for the Lions, Habib has been the catalyst in leading this team to an impressive 14-3 record with just one loss to an in-state team (Young).

A player who is now averaging 18.6 points a game on the year scored 33 points in back-to-back games in wins over North Lawndale and Lane Tech last week. The 6-0 junior, who is also chipping in with four rebounds and four assists a game, is putting up 21.3 points a game in conference play.

John Poulakidas breaks out in big way, school record falls

While Neuqua Valley has only been open for a little over 20 years, the scoring record John Poulakidas set last week may last a lot longer.

The 6-5 junior broke out with a monster performance in helping Neuqua to a 92-89 double overtime win over Bolingbrook. Poulakidas, who came into the game averaging 18 points a game on the year, pumped in 49 points.

After watching every basket and point Poulakids made in the game on tape, the offensive display was nothing short of sensational –– and in true Poulakidas form.

The 6-5 lefty wing is a shooter and crafty shot-maker. Poulakidas scored making every jump-shot imaginable –– catch-and-shoot threes, step-backs and fade-aways, floaters, pull-ups and drives, three-pointers and mid-range jumpers.

Poulakidas finished the game 17 of 30 from the field with six three-pointers. He scored 41 of his 49 points through three quarters and sat a large portion of the two overtimes with cramps.

Buffalo Grove record

Kam Craft receives most of the attention at Buffalo Grove as the high-scoring sophomore has been an offensive force since the day he entered high school.

But the Bison, who are now 13-3 on the year and 4-0 in the Mid-Suburban League East, received a record-breaking performance from Matt Brunelli in a blowout win over Elk Grove this past weekend. The junior guard hit a school record 10 three-pointers, scoring 33 points in three quarters of action.

Collinsville, Evanston and Thornton still unbeaten

Locally, Evanston and Thornton both moved to 16-0 on the season with weekend wins, while downstate power Collinsville remained unscathed as well. The 17-0 Kahoks survived with a buzzer-beating overtime win over St. Louis De Smet in the Highland Shootout.

Collinsville star RaySean Taylor continued his massive senior season with a game-high 26 points, nine rebounds, six assists and six steals in the win.