Basketball is a team game, a concept that is not lost on the players and coaches of the Auburn Riverside boys basketball team.

And although the Ravens boast a pair of bona fide superstars in senior guard Mitch Hagerty and junior forward Ryan Rogers, third-year coach Tom Adams knows the key to advancing from the South Puget Sound League North Division and into postseason glory rides on 12 sets of shoulders, not just two.

“Certainly Ryan and Mitch are awesome players for this level,” Adams said. “It is no doubt they can make some plays. (But they’re better) when they use other players. And they’re getting better at that every day. They’re leaning on their teammates to help them get better, and they’re helping other players get better.”

The Ravens return four starters from last year, including senior guard Devin Cagampang and Sam Melick as well as Hagerty and Rogers. Hagerty is a two-time all-league selection, while Rogers was a first-team all-league performer last season.

“Everybody returns except one kid from last year,” Adams said. “And we’re getting contributions from a couple of the kids from the bench. So I think we’re pretty deep this season. And that helps because we can spell starters and not give up our lead.

“And that’s what you see, this season,” Adams added. “When we run some motion, a kid like Dustin Hegge – who’s a good shooter for us – Andy Andrews, Skyler Cichy or Devin contribute. That makes it so they can’t just collapse on us. I think we’ve got more than just Ryan and Mitch.”

So far this season, the Ravens are 4-4 in the SPSL North 4A (after three seasons in the SPSL 3A) and sitting in fifth place behind Federal Way, Kentridge, Kentwood and Auburn – all teams that were ranked in the state 4A top 10 this season.

“We’re in the toughest league in the state, bar none,” Adams said. “But I think the kids have responded well to it. The bottom line is that we’ve lost really close games to really tough teams.”

Earlier in the season, the Ravens hung in with third-ranked Kentwood (65-62) and narrowly lost to Auburn (67-66).

“I like the way we’re battling,” Adams said. “The thing we have to remember, and we have to keep talking to the kids about, is that it’s a marathon. We’re halfway now. So now we have to tighten some things up and continue to play better basketball.

“The team that are able to get better in January and February are the teams that can make a little bit of a run,” he added. “I think it gives us confidence that we can compete with them. But the bottom line in any game is, can we make plays?”

And, according to players, making plays is all about executing as a team.

“I don’t want to have any regrets when the season is over,” said Cagampang, a co-captain. “I want to look back at my senior year and not have any regrets. I just try to get better every day, practice hard, work with my teammates, and get better as a team.”

“I just want to make it to the playoffs and play well together,” added co-captain Hagerty, who is averaging 20.4 points per game and 6.6 rebounds per game.

Although Hagerty and Cagampang are designated captains for the team, many of the players are taking on leadership roles.

“I just want to be a leader out there and just always talk and be there for my teammates when they need me,” Rogers said. “Just being around each other,

knowing how each other plays and our personalities helps. We really match well, and I just love playing with these guys.”

It’s one thing to talk about how much you love to be on the court with a teammate. But it’s entirely different to spend time away from the sport with your fellow players. But it’s precisely that quality time that has fostered the team attitude for the Ravens, Adams said.

“Team dinner is the big thing,” he said. “The team mothers bring in dinner the day before a game and we’ll eat dinner. And what that does is allow the kids to have a little honesty with each other in a goofy setting.”

According to Adams, the informal dinners help bring the players closer together and be something other than “just basketball teammates.

“It gives them a chance to be friends, which we really like,” he said. “And they are a good group of kids, as good a group to be around as we’ve had. I’m really enjoying them.”