Over the years the annual When Sides Collide event has been a showcase for many of the top teams and players.
When Sides Collide, which began in 2012 and is presented by the City/Suburban Hoops Report, has expanded this year to five games featuring eight state-ranked teams.
The 10 teams feature the state’s top senior prospect, Thornton’s Morez Johnson, along with seven of the City/Suburban Hoops Report’s top 10 prospects in the Class of 2024.
Here is a preview of Saturday’s When Sides Collide at Benet.
Normal (18-3) vs. No. 11 DePaul Prep (17-1), 1 p.m.
A couple of legit state title contenders collide — Normal in 4A and DePaul in 3A.
DePaul, the defending Class 2A state champs, have been pummeled by injuries for a second straight year. The Rams are playing without two starters in Rob Walls and Jonas Johnson. In the short term, mainstays Jaylan McElroy, a blue-collar 6-7 senior who impacts in a variety of ways, point guard Makai Kvamme, senior guard PJ Chambers and 6-7 sophomore Rashaun Porter will need to shoulder a bigger load.
Contending with the size Normal brings will be a chief concern for coach Tom Kleinschmidt’s team. The Ironmen feature 6-10 Jaheem Webber and 6-8 Noah Cleveland along the frontline. However, point guard Braylon Roman could prove to be the best player on the floor.
Normal is in the midst of a grueling stretch of games and travel. The Ironmen have played a bunch of Chicago area teams already, falling to Thornton, Waubonsie Valley and Downers Grove North while beating Romeoville and Kenwood.
The pick: DePaul Prep 44, Normal 42
No. 7 Downers Grove North (16-3) vs. No. 2 Homewood-Flossmoor (17-1), 2:30 p.m.
The run Homewood-Flossmoor has been on over the past couple of weeks is impressive. The Vikings have wins over Rich, Thornton, DePaul Prep and Romeoville since late December.
This is another big test for a team that continues to rise and has dreams of doing what Downers North did a year ago — play in Champaign on the final weekend of the season.
We are now two-plus months into the season, so there is experience playing together for a revamped Vikings roster that included transfers Bryce Heard, Gianni Cobb and Donald Hagemaster. They are starting to gel in the way coach Jamere Dismukes thought was possible.
The potency begins on the perimeter where opponents have to pick their poison among Heard, Cobb, Carson Brownfield and Jayden Tyler as all four
The good news for DGN is that star guard Jack Stanton is back from an ankle injury. The Princeton recruit is not only a lethal scorer and shooter, but he’s the heart and soul of this team. To the Trojans’ credit, they’ve persevered — and even grown a little with other players gaining more opportunities — in Stanton’s absence.
Senior Alex Miller has emerged as a double-figure scorer and is shooting over 40 percent from beyond the arc, while tough senior guard Owen Thulin remains his steady self.
The pick: Homewood-Flossmoor 52, Downers Grove North 49
Young (10-8) vs. Yorkville (9-8), 4 p.m.
The seasons for these two preseason top 25 teams have not gone according to plan.
For Young it’s been about nurturing a young team in the opening two months of the season against a strong, competitive schedule. For Yorkville it’s been about getting everyone back on the floor and in sync after playing shorthanded during its 3-5 start to the season.
Now as we head into the second half of the season, both Young and Yorkville could be dangerous. But climbing out of the murkiness of unexpected mediocrity isn’t a simple task.
Young’s Antonio Munoz, the 6-6 star junior, is out of action with an injury. While the talented sophomore class, featuring Marquis Clark and Nasir Rankin, continues to generate a buzz, look for senior Cole Pruitt and juniors Damajay Richardson and Sean Brown to try and steady the ship.
Yorkville’s 6-10 Jason Jakstys, who is headed to Illinois next year, is the focal point. But the Foxes have suffered through some extended scoring droughts within games. Can they generate enough strong scoring opportunities and shoot the ball well enough from the perimeter to pull off the upset?
The pick: Young 57, Yorkville 50
No. 3 Mount Carmel (20-2) vs. No. 21 Kenwood (12-6), 6 p.m.
Here we go, Kenwood. Yet another opportunity for the Broncos, who fell to New Trier earlier this week, to take a step forward and show they can still be a contender with all the other big boys.
Don’t look now, but in this 2023-24 season, Mount Carmel has established itself as a big boy. Coach Phil Segroves’ team has yet to lose to an in-state team and has wins over Warren, Lake Park, Benet and Glenbrook North.
The Caravan have a bonafide go-to player in Northwestern recruit Angelo Ciaravino. The athletic 6-6 senior is averaging 19 points a game. But what makes this team so dangerous is the balance that follows with five others who are all capable of scoring in double figures, including Grant Best, Cameron Thomas, Christian Uremovich, Lee Marks and Noah Mister.
Kenwood is a talent-filled team with a size advantage against almost everyone it plays. Utilizing that size, which includes 6-10 Arizona State recruit Jaden Smith, has not been a common theme. There is just so much size and athleticism in Smith, 6-5 Chris Riddle, 6-5 Calvin Robins and 6-9 Aleks Alston, one of the top junior prospects in the state.
Freshman Devin Cleveland continues to get more and more acclimated to being the primary point guard. As he does, the hope remains that this team can become the threat it was thought to be when the season began.
The pick: Mount Carmel 63, Kenwood 58
No. 4 Thornton (15-2) vs. No. 5 Benet (15-2), 7:30 p.m.
The premier game of the event and a true toss-up between a pair of top five teams.
Thornton and Morez Johnson head into what will be a fun but hostile road environment. Benet hasn’t lost a home game since February of 2020.
Thornton is senior-dominated, led by the best senior in the state. Johnson, an Illinois recruit and one of the top 50 players in the country, is a nightmare to play against due to his size, strength, athleticism and constant motor. Seniors Meyoh Swansey, Isaiah Green and Chase Abraham surround the 6-9 Johnson with perimeter scoring options.
Benet has size to contend with Thornton’s elite big man. But due to its youth, much of that size is undeveloped. How Benet tries to handle Johnson inside will be an intriguing storyline within the game. There is a combination to defend Johnson with slender 7-0 sophomore Colin Stack and 6-6 senior Parker Sulaver, who figures to be the best bet to throw a body at Johnson.
How Benet’s young perimeter players — sophomores Gabe Sularski and Jayden Wright and junior Blake Fagbemi — handle the big-game atmosphere and Thornton’s quickness will be a key. Are these guards seasoned enough and have they matured from battles with Marist, Curie, Bloom and DePaul to combat what Thornton’s senior contingent will throw at them?
The pick: Thornton 56, Benet 55, OT
