A win for Alburnett with the help of Jordan Caton, a kid whose biggest win came 6 years ago

ALBURNETT — The conversation with Alburnett boys’ basketball coach Jeff Christopherson began with the obvious.

It wasn’t easy for the Class 2A ninth-ranked Pirates to obtain a 62-58 district semifinal win Friday night over Northeast. But they obtained that win to advance to a district final Tuesday night against Monticello.

It’s a bottom-line deal in the postseason.

“The game of basketball is not scored like gymnastics or anything like that,” Christopherson said. “It doesn’t have to be pretty, you’ve just got to get the job done. Especially this time of year because everybody who is left is good. Nobody’s hiding.”

Eventually the coach was asked about Jordan Caton. The junior guard had a game-high 25 points, nailing some clutch free throws down the stretch, to help his team survive.

The 5-foot-9 junior point guard makes the Alburnett student section (and others) go “whoa” at times with a sick change of direction on his dribble, his ultra quickness and other skills. There is obvious talent there.

“I think he has a high ceiling,” Christopherson said. “I think summer will (tell) how far he can go. I know he wants to play at the next level, and he’ll do the right things to be able to do that. His parents are very supportive.”

More than you might ever know.

Tom and Ashley Caton of Alburnett adopted Jordan, his sister and two brothers out of foster care in October 2016. Nina is a freshman in high school, William a seventh-grader and Rico a fifth-grader.

“I was born in California and moved to Iowa when I was, like, 6 or 7,” Jordan Caton said. “I got adopted by my family here in Alburnett when I was in about fifth grade. My brothers and sister were all in foster care at the time with different families. We ended up in this family for about a year, and then they ended up adopting all of us.”

“We couldn’t have kids, but we decided for foster care to just kind of make a difference,” Ashley Caton said. “We didn’t know if we’d be able to adopt kids or not, but we knew that kids needed to be in our lives somehow. Jordan and his brothers and sister came to us, and we couldn’t say no. They are such good kids.”

Jordan Caton said he and his siblings ended up in Iowa because they had a biological grandmother who lived here. He was asked about life before meeting Tom and Ashley.

“It was hard,” he said. “I grew up at a really young age, had to mature. I took care of my siblings because my mom wasn’t around. I definitely had to grow up at a young age. Life has taught me a lot.”

Which perhaps is why he seems to show very little emotion when he’s on the basketball court. He just plays.

“Growing up, I didn’t have the best experience with friends, school or sports. Hard times,” he said. “Getting with this family is the best thing that could have happened to me. I found a love for basketball.”

“He just has a natural gift to play,” Ashley said.

A natural gift that would have been wasted had Tom and Ashley Caton not provided him a stable environment. A home.

“We’re here to give the kids an opportunity to do what they want to do,” Tom Caton said. “If you think about how things could be, given stories like ours, we honestly couldn’t be more proud of the kids. How great of kids they are, how humble of kids they are. Jordan is a great kid. He works hard, stays out of trouble, and we couldn’t be more proud of him and his siblings.”

“I’m so grateful. They saved our lives,” Jordan Caton said. “The judge, he could have said no, and we’d all be in different homes right now. It’s been a journey, and how far we’ve come, everything has worked out. We’re all happy. We’re one big family now.”

AT ALBURNETT

NORTHEAST (58): Jacob Tegeler 6-12 0-1 12, Gavin Kramer 6-13 4-6 16, Clayton Meyermann 9-16 2-2 20, Chase Lee 2-9 0-0 6, Jimmy Weispfenning 2-3 0-0 4, Curtis Eberhart 0-0 0-0 0, Michael Frame 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-54 6-9 58.

ALBURNETT (62): Braydon Osborn 7-14 2-3 16, Tytan Bowers 1-6 0-0 2, Mason Neighbor 1-4 1-2 3, Jordan Caton 8-16 5-6 25, Adam Neighbor 2-4 0-0 5, Grayson Carolan 1-1 0-0 2, Payton Baker 2-5 4-5 9. Totals 22-50 12-16 62.

Halftime - Alburnett 28, Northeast 21. 3-point goals - Northeast 2-12 (Tegeler 0-1, Kramer 0-3, Meyermann 0-1, Lee 2-6, Frame 0-1), Alburnett 6-19 (Osborn 0-5, M. Neighbor 0-2, Caton 4-6, A. Neighbor 1-3, Baker 1-3). Rebounds - Northeast 37 (Tegeler 12), Alburnett 26 (Osborn, Caton 5). Total fouls - Northeast 14, Alburnett 12. Fouled out - None. Turnovers - Northeast 14, Alburnett 4.

Comments: (319)-398-8258, jeff.johnson@thegazette.com