As the youngest of five basketball-playing brothers, Crete-Monee’s Jaydon Watts has a chip on his shoulder. It comes from years of being the little guy getting beat up on the court.
It all made Watts, a senior guard, even stronger. And he sure learned a lot.
“I’m always battling and I’m always fighting because I’m used to doing that,” Watts said. “You’ve just got to live and learn. From my brothers, I learned how to be a leader, how to do the right thing and be a better person.”
Watts’ leadership has been vital for the Warriors. He often comes off the bench as the team’s sixth man, but he got the start Wednesday night and scored 11 points to spark Crete-Monee to a 77-38 win over Evergreen Park in a Class 3A Hillcrest Regional semifinal in Country Club Hills.
Watts added eight rebounds and Jaylen Blakes scored 21 points to lead the fifth-seeded Warriors (19-12). Zyheir Gardner and Jayden Preston added nine points apiece, while Uriel Chapman chipped in with six.
Crete-Monee will take on fourth-seeded Hillcrest (20-10), which beat Oak Forest 63-50, at 6 p.m. Friday in the regional final.
Lenear Bolden scored 12 points, Keshaun Vaval added 11 points and Camryn Dandridge finished with eight points and 10 rebounds for 12th-seeded Evergreen Park (14-17).
All of Jaydon’s brothers, including Enos, Nick and Emmanuel along with Joel, graduated from Homewood-Flossmoor, although Joel started his career at St. Rita.
“It was just meant to be for me,” Jaydon said of ending up at Crete-Monee. “I watched all my brothers play at H-F and I started playing basketball when I was 3 years old.
“My parents just put the ball in my hand and I had to figure out what to do with it.”
Watts, meanwhile, wasn’t the only member of his family playing in the postseason Wednesday.
Joel, the second-youngest of the Watts brothers, scored 11 points for Concordia Chicago in an 82-68 loss to Concordia Wisconsin in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament game.
Jaydon is hoping to follow Joel’s path to college basketball, but his high school journey has been different.
On Wednesday night, Watts scored eight quick points in the first quarter. It was the kind of spark he typically provides off the bench and was exactly what Crete-Monee coach Jawan Nelson was looking for.
“Jaydon is one of our best scorers,” Nelson said. “That’s why I’ve been having him come off the bench, but I had to start him this game because we’ve been struggling getting those points.
“We scored the most points we’ve scored all year and he was a big part of it.”
Watts, though, has been focused on doing more to help his team than just make 3-pointers. His eight rebounds were a major source of pride.
“It’s senior year,” Watts said. “Shooting and scoring the ball, that isn’t everything. We all have to contribute across the court.”
Blakes, who transferred to Crete-Monee from T.F. North, has spent just one season with Watts. But he has certainly felt his impact.
“I’ve seen Watts grow a lot as more than a basketball player,” Blakes said. “I’ve seen him grow as a person, as a captain and especially as a team leader. He’s a person that we really lean on.”
Up 36-24 at halftime, the Warriors dominated the second half, holding Evergreen Park to 14 points, including just three in the fourth quarter.
Now, they get their rematch with Hillcrest, which beat Crete-Monee 55-50 in a Big Dipper quarterfinal on Dec. 27.
Watts is ready. And he’s hungrier than ever.
“You have to get uncomfortable with your weaknesses,” Watts said. “That’s always going to help you get better in the long run. I felt like my weakness in the past was just the want to win.
“I feel like I’ve really got that now.”
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