This is the place where Jayce Schmitt stops yawning.

This is where Johnsburg’s three-year varsity basketball star puts on his happy face and sneakers, where his energy rises, where he buries buzzer-beaters and makes shots from every spot.

This is where he gets to be a teenager and play hoops with his friends, many of whom he’s known since kindergarten and some of whom have played in those 2-on-2 games in his backyard.

Ball beats boredom.

“Every day [at practice] I walk around and say hi to everybody and ask, ‘How was your day?’” coach Mike Toussaint said at a recent practice. “Every time I ask Jayce, ‘How was your day at school?’, he says, ‘Boring.’ ”

Schmitt grins. His coach speaks the truth.

“School’s just the boring half of the day compared to the other part, where I’m out here practicing basketball and having games,” Schmitt said. “That’s the highlight of the day.”

A varsity starter since his sophomore year, Schmitt has provided buckets of highlights for the Skyhawks during his career, which includes helping the soccer team win a Class 1A sectional title in 2023.

Johnsburg takes a 19-11 record into their regular-season finale Wednesday at Harvard. At 12-2 in the Kishwaukee River Conference, the Skyhawks are tied for first place with Woodstock. The Blue Streaks will win the title if they can beat Woodstock North on Wednesday since they completed a season sweep of Johnsburg with a 50-47 win Friday.

Johnsburg last reached 20 wins in 2019.

Schmitt, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound senior guard, has been a key to the Skyhawks’ sustained success, which includes winning the KRC his sophomore year. An all-conference player the past two seasons, he averages 12.9 points and 6.7 rebounds a game, boasts a team-leading 65 steals and has made 51 3-pointers.

School can’t match that fun.

“He’s a great player,” said senior forward Danny Loud, who’s known Schmitt since kindergarten. “He can score anywhere on the court, he can shoot the ball, he can score in the post, he’s great on defense and great on the boards.”

While senior teammates Loud, Schmitt, Ashton Stern, Brady Fisher, Carter Block and Zach Willis have known each other since they were tiny, senior guard Jarrel Albea didn’t join the group until he transferred from Zion-Benton going into his sophomore year.

Albea started on varsity with Schmitt two years ago, and the two young players bonded quickly. Albea is another player who’s seen all that Schmitt can do on the court.

“He’s very consistent and dominant,” Albea said. “He can get to his spots whenever he wants to. He can play all five [positions], if you ask me. Special player, for sure.”

Stern started playing basketball with Schmitt about third grade. He calls his friend one of the funniest guys he knows and a goofball.

“He’s clutch,” said Stern, who’s a two-year starting guard. “I can remember at least three times where he’s hit buzzer-beaters to either tie the game or send the game to overtime, win it.”

Take last season against Rockford Lutheran. Schmitt hit a deep 3-pointer to send the Skyhawks into overtime, where they lost on their home court.

“He’s made a couple of game-winners in summer league games, too,” Stern said. “Obviously they don’t mean as much, but it still just shows that he’s got that composure late.”

Schmitt’s clutch shot-making no doubt includes those 2-on-2 games in his backyard. High school teammates Trey Toussaint and Jacob Vetter have been backyard teammates of his too.

“We actually got a little league with all the guys,” said Schmitt, who’s the youngest of two children of Jason and Kelly, whose oldest, JT, plays basketball at Marian University in Wisconsin. “We’ve been doing it for like five years [in the summer]. We get all competitive and do a tournament. ... I’ve won it four out of five years, and the one year I lost was to my brother, but I was in the championship.”

Schmitt’s competitiveness extends to the classroom. School may bore him, but he carries a 3.7 GPA and plans to pursue a degree in business management in college. He also wants to play basketball beyond this season and is looking at either playing with his brother at Marian or possibly Central College in Iowa.

Loud shares a business class with Schmitt. He knows his longtime friend means business when it’s time to focus and deliver.

“We’re always looking for him [on the court],” Loud said. “He’s super consistent. He doesn’t have a lot of ‘off’ games.”

Schmitt scored his 1,000th varsity point Jan. 10 at Indian Creek. In December, he poured in 28 points against Mundelein at Jacobs’ Hinkle Holiday Classic, where he was named to the all-tourney team along with Toussaint.

When he’s not scoring, he’s defending, embracing the physicality.

“He’s a beast,” Mike Toussaint said of Schmitt. “He can do anything. He can post you up, he can take you to the basket, he can shoot the 3. And he’s coachable. He’s got a great attitude.”

Nothing boring about that.