In their second meeting last season, Auburn High School narrowly defeated Kentridge High School, 53-52, en route to their sixth league title in a row. This year, in their first meeting, Kentridge came in with a full head of steam and a 4-0 record. But Auburn showed up and played their best game of the season and improved to 7-0 with an 81-54 win on Dec. 16.

“It looked more like what we expect it to look like. Shots were going down and a lot of the reason was we were taking good shots, we weren’t forcing the issue,” Auburn head coach Ryan Hansen said.

Record-wise, Kentridge had to be one of the better teams Auburn has faced this year. Kentwood on the road is also up there, but in terms of performances from top to bottom. The 27-point win over the Chargers seemed easy for Auburn, especially when Daniel Johnson had 31 points, and according to Coach Hansen, it was a quiet 31 points.

“I thought his 31 was really quiet. When I found out about that I didn’t expect that. He had some really nice passes and did a great job of finishing. I thought he shot the three ball well too. He’s a great player,” Hansen said.

Auburn sprinted out to a 12-0 lead over Kentridge and defensively dominated early in the first quarter. Johnson had 12 first quarter points, and like an assassin, Johnson was methodical and emotionless, with no regard for Kentridge life.

Johnson also had support from his teammates all night as well. Early on it was Miles Henry with five first quarter points, while Matthew Frederickson had four in the first and Isaiah Englund had six first quarter points. Englund finished with 17 and had three dunks throughout the game. The chemistry between both Englund and Johnson is now in year three and continues to groweach game.

“They are both competitive kids and have played a lot of big games together. The both understand each other and are willing passers,” Hansen said.

Junior Emmanuel Rogers was in the starting lineup for Hansen and made the most of his opportunities. The 6’0” guard finished with 13 points and was very efficient on the floor all night. Hansen said this was Rogers’ best game all season up to this point.

“He’s a real heady player and competitive. He’s been starting the last few games and there is a reason for that. I’m not surprised that he played well. I am expecting him to be our glue guy so to speak. He’s somebody that can really guard and can play off two feet and he did a really good job of that tonight,” Hansen said.

Isaiah Englund looks for teammates with the ball in his hands. Photo provided by Dee Torres.

Auburn led 40-22 at halftime and their defense suffocated the Chargers for the entirety of the first half, with the full court press and even half court defense. Auburn wants to be known by their ability to defend and that was on full display Tuesday night.

In the third quarter, Kentridge standout Giovanni Moimoi found his rhythm, scoring 13 points in the frame. But it was just too little too late. Auburn would not be slowed down on offense and it was everyone contributing. Auburn had extremely crisp passing all night, and finding that extra pass to a wide open look happened often in the win.

“That has been a big emphasis in practice, getting our guys to understand the value of playing together and get the ball moving. Hopefully tonight it clicks for them because when the ball is moving, we get easy looks,” Hansen said.

Auburn is now 7-0 and 4-0 in league play. With 10 more league games left on the calendar the Trojans are starting to play as a unit at the right time. “I think it clicked a little bit tonight, it looked more like what I expect Auburn basketball to look like. We moved well. I thought we did a better job of taking care of the ball. Defensively I thought we provided a lot of resistance for them,” Hansen said.