sketball team comes into the season short on experience but long on talent and athleticism.

Given a roster stocked with underclassmen and just one returning starter — junior forward Iszia Johnson – the Trojans are a far different beast than last season’s roughneck, physical team that went 13-8 overall and finished fourth in the South Puget Sound League North 4A with a district tournament berth.

“We got some good athleticism and good quickness,” Auburn coach Ryan Hansen said. “We’re a team full of a lot of juniors and some sophomores, but they really like playing basketball and they enjoy being around each other. That’s going to be one of the strengths of our team this year. They get along well.”

But considerable camaraderie and talent can be wasted without actual time on the hardwood against quality opponents.

Last Tuesday, the Trojans got a taste of just how potent a talented, experienced team can be when they traveled to the “Nest” at Federal Way High School to take on the No. 1 ranked, defending 4A state champion Eagles.

And although Auburn took its lumps, losing 97-66, the Trojans gained invaluable experience.

“(Federal Way) is playing at a level that we aspire to get to,” Hansen said. “We have a relatively young team that doesn’t have a lot experience. But (Federal Way) is absolutely the No. 1 team in the state. Hopefully our guys can learn from them … that you have to play hard 32 minutes.”

So far, the Trojans have compiled a 4-3 overall record, 2-2 in league.

With the Trojans off to a fair start, Hansen expects to see growth once the team sees more action.

“They just don’t have a lot of experience and the guys don’t have a ton of minutes of game time,” he said. “As the season goes on, I expect us to get better and better. We’ll utilize our quickness and our speed and try to get out and extend our defense.”

In the meantime, the Trojans will lean heavily on their co-captains, juniors Johnson and Kevin Henderson.

“(Johnson is) one of the better athletes in the league and gets off the floor quickly,” Hansen said. “He’s been an absolute stud with the team this year. He’s a great leader and works hard everyday in practice and is very coachable. He’s been vocal and works hard as a leader. He’s been every thing that I could ask from in a player.”

Hansen continued:

“(Henderson) is a very talented player as well and has a good skill set. He can shoot the ball well and is good at attacking the basket and is a good defender. He’s an absolute gym rat … so he’s going to improve and get better. He’s a kid that comes to practice and works hard every day.”

As the season progresses, Hansen said he expects his team to exploit its strengths, speed and athleticism.

“Our team speed is one of our strengths and we need to get out and run,” Hansen said. “I think we can get out and run and extend our pressure on defense, use our length to get some deflections and get some points in transition. We don’t have a lot of height. We’ve got a couple of kids that are 6-5, but in a 4A league that’s not really big. We’ve got to continue to work to use our length to our advantage. Sometimes we have a tendency to get flat defensively, and we just have to keep learning to play at a high level 32 minutes a game.”

Hansen said he expects the Trojans to be in the mix once the postseason begins.

“I fully expect us to be in a playoff hunt and playing our best basketball,” he said. “This is a team that fans will see improve throughout the year. They’re a hungry group that loves basketball, and they’re going to keep working to get better. They really have a drive to be successful.”