Warren’s Jaxson Davis and Bolingbrook’s Davion Thompson, the two star sophomores in the suburbs, have already cracked the 1,000-point mark. It’s rare to accomplish that so quickly.
Kenwood sophomore Devin Cleveland missed the start of last season with an injury. He has a much different role within his team than Davis and Thompson, so he hasn’t hit 1,000 points yet. But that arbitrary round number doesn’t mean much in the larger picture.
Cleveland has a chance to become a Chicago basketball legend. He’s that good. Watching him strive toward that status will be one of the joys of Illinois high school basketball over the next 2½ seasons — if he stays local.
Cleveland asserted himself in the third quarter of No. 3 Kenwood’s 76-54 win against visiting No. 13 Curie on Thursday. He scored nine points and picked up an assist during a 12-2 burst when the Broncos took control.
“Sometimes we forget he is only a sophomore,” Kenwood coach Joseph Mason said. “So he still has room to get better. We know all the praise, that he is No. 11 in the country. But we still have to watch him develop and grow and coach him. But the sky is the limit for him.”
Cleveland finished with 27 points. He checked out with more than five minutes left in the game as Kenwood (21-1, 9-0 Red Shield) had built a surprising 16-point lead against the Condors.
“My past two games, I didn’t shoot well,” Cleveland said. “The first half, I was trying to get my team involved and get in the flow of the game. The third quarter, I felt like I needed to put on a show for the fans.”
Cleveland is a rare young superstar who never forces things and lets the game come to him. Davis runs the show for Warren, and Thompson scores a lot of points for Bolingbrook. Kenwood has a much older team, full of stars, and Cleveland is smart enough to understand how he fits best. That has been a key to Kenwood’s success this season.
“I have three other people that can go for 25 a night,” Cleveland said. “That makes my job easier. This team right here, we have Amari [Edwards], Aleks [Alston], and TJ [Seals].”
Kenwood’s Aleks Alston (24) and TJ Seals (23) congratulate each other after winning against Curie.
Kirsten Stickney/For the Sun-Times
Those three seniors delivered against Curie (14-6, 5-3). Seals had 15 points and 15 rebounds. Alston finished with 17 points, nine rebounds and five blocks. Edwards added 10 points.
“We came out strong but slacked off on rebounding in the second quarter,” Seals said. “We took care of that in the third quarter and hit the boards and that changed everything.”
Kenwood’s only loss was on the road at No. 2 Rich. The Broncos beat top-ranked DePaul Prep in the first week of the season. The Class 4A state picture is starting to come into focus and the Broncos are right there at the top with Rich, Bolingbrook and Quincy.
Brad Johnson led Curie with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Justin Oliver added 12 points. The Condors missed 14 free throws.
Curie has exceeded expectations this season overall but was upset by Lindblom earlier this month.
“We need to work on making some free throws,” Condors coach Mike Oliver said. “Just fundamentals. And we have to have the will to win. That’s a good basketball team, they have some good players. But we didn’t compete in the second half.”