DETROIT — Last Sunday, at the University of Detroit Mercy’s Calihan Hall, Mark Cross gave it all he had in Clarkston Everest Collegiate’s quest to repeat as the champion of the Catholic High School League’s Ste. Anne Division.
He knew no other way but to hustle from start to finish. He drove around or sliced through Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett’s defense for a basket or to snare a rebound. He was fearless in joining a scrum for a loose ball.
Mark played 28 minutes of the four 8-minute quarters, benched late in the third quarter when he incurred a fourth foul but was re-inserted 43 seconds into the fourth quarter. He scored eight points, just a shade under his 12-a-game season average. His last basket, a layup, came on a pass from his twin brother, Isaac.
It was uphill for Everest, trailing from the opening jump ball until tying the score at 36-36 late in the third quarter. Isaac Cross’ triple gave the Mountaineers a 39-36 lead and the momentum for a 63-48 victory.
While his teammates move on to the state playoffs next week, it was Mark Cross’ last high school basketball game.
At about the same time, Mark, 17, is scheduled to start a round of chemotherapy to treat a sarcoma, a cancerous tumor, on a bone in his right leg. For five days in a row, staff at the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center will fight the disease by chemicals that destroy cancerous tissue.
Mark has won this battle once before, two years ago.
At the end of his sophomore year, on the eve of the state golf final, athletic director Ann Lowney said Mark “complained of a lump and pain in the same right leg.” He underwent the chemotherapy regimen at U of M and surgery at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center to remove the tumor.
Nearly a year later, a healthy Mark shot rounds of 82 and 93 on Everest’s Division 4 golf state championship squad. This past fall, he led the soccer team to a district title. He won All- State, all-Intersectional League and all-Catholic League honors.
This winter, Mark was one of the main components of Everest’s outstanding 19-1 season and a No. 7 ranking in Division 4.
During a recent routine scan, a sarcoma was detected in a different area of the leg. This time the treatment will be more aggressive: two rounds of chemo 16 days apart.
“The crazy thing,” Lowney said, “there was no pain.”
After Sunday’s game, Mark said, “The leg’s fine. There’s no pain.”
“I’m glad he was able to play,” his mother Becky said. “It’s been a journey. We’re blessed to have the support of the community. Mark is mentally strong. It’s one day at a time.”
He’ll graduate in May and plans are on hold when he’ll be able to join his brothers, Jack and Lucas, at Franciscan University.
Contact Don Horkey at [email protected].
