At times on the basketball court, East Aurora’s Davion Jackson seems ready to take flight.
Those “aha” moments for the athletic 6-foot-4 junior forward didn’t always come to him as easily in the past as he’s capable of making them appear these days.
In fact, Jackson first had to overcome a crisis in confidence. His lulls, cautioned Tomcats coach Rick Robinson, can still come and go and keeps his feet sometimes on the ground.
“It’s just a matter of confidence,” Jackson said. “Last year, I had like no confidence. I was scared of the ball. I went into the summer, started working with my AAU team and gained confidence.
“I started going into games just wanting the ball. With more training, I got better.”
That process continued Thursday in a matinee performance at Elgin.
The two Upstate Eight West teams were hungry for a win, but Jackson flashed plenty of confidence in leading East Aurora to a 63-28 victory in the first game of the new year.
Jackson led East Aurora (4-13, 2-3) with game highs of 19 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Senior forward Jaiyon Spivey and junior forward Marcus Wallace Jr. added 18 points apiece.
Junior guard Ryan Varghese
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scored eight points and senior forward Adrian Jackson had six for the shorthanded Maroons (2-15, 0-5), who were missing two players due to what first-year coach Kurt Kerrigan described as “family matters.”Davion Jackson had three of his steals in the first quarter, sparking a 16-2 surge that saw East Aurora take control. After the third steal, Jackson drove three-fourths the length of the court for a slam dunk with one minute left in the first quarter.
He duplicated the play 15 seconds into the second.
“An outstanding day for Davion,” Robinson said. “He’s been a no-show at times, but he decided he wanted to come and play, and I’m glad he did. Maybe this will be his breakout.
“Hopefully, he can come out of that hole he’s been in.”
Jackson didn’t have a ton of experience last season when he was promoted to East Aurora’s varsity as a sophomore. He began his high school career freshman year at West Aurora.
After a move and transfer at midseason, he wasn’t eligible to play second semester.
“Davion has struggled to finish at times, but he played above the rim instead of below the rim,” Robinson said. “That’s been my whole thing with him, trying to get him to understand when you’re that tall, you need to play above the rim and not below it.
“It’s getting rebounds high off the board and finishing high on your layups instead of under the basket.”
Jackson said Robinson isn’t talking about dunks.
“Basically, he means just don’t be soft when you’re attacking the rim,” Jackson said. “If I’m not gonna dunk it, act like I’m gonna dunk it is basically what he’s saying.”
Plenty of season remains, and when it comes to Jackson, Spivey and Wallace playing together?
“The sky’s the limit,” Jackson said, noting this is the first season the trio has been together.
The team went 2-2 in last week’s holiday tournament the Tomcats hosted, including what Robinson termed a “signature” win with a 71-68 decision over Eisenhower.
“Jackson hit some big free throws down the stretch in that one,” said Robinson, who also mentioned that Spivey came through with 26 points and 16 rebounds.
The effort needs to match the talent, according to Jackson.
“We put in the effort for that win as a team,” he said. “Some games, we don’t play like a team.”
Kerrigan saw that potential Thursday.
“They’re very athletic, tough kids with good attitudes,” he said. “As long as they buy in, they have a bright future.”