Casston Cross comes to a new school in a new state. He ends up as East Aurora’s leader. ‘On his shoulders.’
· Yahoo Sports
It has been a season that East Aurora’s Casston Cross won’t soon forget.
A 6-foot-3 junior guard/forward, Cross is playing for a new program at his new school in his new state following his move to Aurora from Johnston, Iowa, a suburb of Des Moines.
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Fortunately for the Tomcats, the lanky Cross has emerged as a team leader capable of doing some heavy lifting, figuratively speaking.
“I think he felt like coming in from day one, he had to put the team on his shoulders,” East Aurora coach J’son Sanders said of Cross. “That’s a hard feat for a transfer coming in, not knowing your teammates, coaches or our traditions or what we do here.
“Casston came in trying to be the leader and put the team on his shoulders, and he’s been consistent with that the whole year.”
It was especially true Monday night when Cross scored a season-high 28 points to lead the host Tomcats to a 54-48 win over Plainfield Central in a Class 4A Neuqua Valley Regional quarterfinal in Aurora.
Junior forward Jason Moore followed with nine points and six rebounds for 15th-seeded East Aurora (15-15), which advances to a 6 p.m. Wednesday regional semifinal against second-seeded Neuqua (30-1).
Sophomore guard Jamir Malone added seven points for the Tomcats, while junior point guard Daivon Douglas, the coach’s son, scored only two points but tallied a team-high nine rebounds.
“The thing about Daivon, he’s so resilient,” Sanders said. “He transferred from West Aurora, had to sit out the whole first half of the season and couldn’t play a lick. He came in the second half and we’ve needed a point guard for the last two years.
“He might not score a lot, but he keeps us in line. The guys who are hot, he makes sure they get fed, makes sure they eat. He keeps us set.”
Ares Collins, a 6-5 junior center, came off the bench to lead 18th-seeded Plainfield Central (6-24) with 16 points. Junior guard Colby Logan added 10.
“Survival of the fittest,” Cross said, describing East Aurora’s approach to playoff basketball. “We just have to go hard every game and go as far as we can.
“It’s a team game, but (Monday night) was my night to shine.”
Somebody had to do it.
Like many a postseason play-in game pitting lower-seeded teams trying to move on, this one began a little rough around the edges.
How rough?
The visiting Wildcats scored the first basket of the game on a layup at the 4:20 mark of the first quarter and Cross answered a minute later off a feed from Moore.
It was a see-saw affair the rest of the way, with the Wildcats actually leading 23-22 at halftime and 36-35 after three quarters.
Cross scored his team’s first three baskets of the fourth, the third on a dunk off Malone’s feed off a steal, for a 41-38 lead. Cross’ 3-point play on a baseline jumper with 3:05 left gave the Tomcats the lead for good.
“We had to play strong and stop fouling,” said Cross, who shot 7 of 9 on free throws to help seal the win. “We were able to help teammates but then had to stay strong.”
Cross and Moore both finished the game with four fouls apiece.
“We’re a family,” Cross said. “I feel like we’ve jelled together as soon as I came here.
“I didn’t want this to be our last game.”
A heavy weight was lifted from Sanders with the win as well. He took over in late December when head coach Rick Robinson was suspended and then let go from the job.
Sanders grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia and came to the area to play for coach Dave Heiss on a pair of at Waubonsee Community College’s Skyway Conference champions in 2005 and 2006 before going into coaching.
“Getting this win was a weight off my chest, back and shoulders, yes,” Sanders said.