Jevon Warren drops travel ball, doesn’t skip a beat as TF North takes down Shepard. ‘It was just my mindset to get better.’

In an unorthodox move, T.F. North’s Jevon Warren skipped one of the most important college recruiting periods in boys basketball to work on the game with his father.

Warren decided he didn’t want to play travel ball in the summer between his junior and senior years — a timeframe considered to be a gold mine for being seen by college coaches.

Instead, Warren spent each day in the gym with his dad, Jason, and Meteors coach Tim Bankston. And it wasn’t just a precious scene straight out of a Hallmark movie.

“It was just my mindset to get better in the gym,” Jevon said of skipping the travel season. “I could work on what I needed to work on. They put me through a lot of drills.

“I learned to keep my composure and I learned a lot about defense.”

In that same gym Tuesday night, Warren scored 18 points to spark T.F. North to an 82-39 victory over Shepard in a South Suburban Conference crossover in Calumet City.

Jayden Small led the Meteors (9-2, 5-0) with 31 points, including 14 in the final 4:00 with a running clock. Chris Cook added 13 points and Chase Abraham had 11.

Jermell Lymon led Shepard (8-8, 1-4) with 10 points.

Warren, a 6-foot-2 senior, totaled seven points, two rebounds, three steals, two assists and a blocked shot during a 26-1 burst that spanned the second and third quarters.

“He’s a great player, and he really pushes us to keep us going,” Small said of Warren. “In practice and in games, he really stays on us.”

An all-around threat, Warren is averaging 17.2 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.9 blocked shots, 2.4 steals and 1.2 assists as a senior.

The Meteors opened the season with eight straight wins before losing 74-60 to Proviso East and dropping a 51-50 heartbreaker to Fenwick at the Proviso West Holiday Tournament.

Bankston said the Meteors missed 20 free throws against Proviso East and came up short on four key free throws down the stretch against Fenwick.

“We should be undefeated,” said Bankston, who was pleased with T.F. North’s 12-for-14 effort from the line against Shepard. “If we shoot free throws like we did (Tuesday), we can beat anybody.”

Small agreed that Tuesday night’s performance was big.

“It felt good to finally get a win,” he said. “A lot of our players had their heads down after those losses. We needed a little break to get right.”

The Astros, who were coming off winning the Elgin Tournament, tied the Meteors 14-14 at the end of the first quarter. Things, however, fell apart in the second quarter.

“They did a nice job with their pressure defense and we could have done a better job of handling pressure,” Shepard coach Tony Chiuccariello said. “Warren is a nice player, while Small and Cook give him a dimension where they can knock down the three.

“It spreads the floor a little more for an athletic kid like that.”

Warren, meanwhile, has not been receiving much college interest.

“At the moment, I don’t have any offers,” he said. “I’m just waiting and see what happens. I want to play in college.

“I love the energy that basketball brings me. It calms my mind.”

So, this high school season is crucial for Warren if he wants to keep playing.

It can be a gamble to miss summer exposure tournaments, but Bankston believes a college program will find Warren.

“I’ve been calling coaches and telling them about what a great player and a great kid he is and that he is on the honor roll,” Bankston said. “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.

“But somebody is going to get him, and they are going to be very happy with him.”

Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.