Auburn basketball tops Kentwood, 50-40, to cap off dominant regular season: 3 takeaways
The Trojans started slow out of the gate, but ultimately, the Auburn High School boys basketball team came away with a 50-40 win over Kentwood on Friday night in 4A NPSL play. Here are three takeaways from the win.
TECHNICAL FOUL IS GAME’S TURNING POINT
Kentwood had just taken a 32-31 lead before fouling Auburn’s Amar Rivers, sending him to the line for a 1-and-1. That’s when a Kentwood player picked up a technical foul, giving Rivers potentially four free throws. He sunk all four, and with the ball staying with Auburn after the four free throws, the Trojans capitalized once again, with sophomore Maleek Arington scoring a two-point shot as time expired to end the quarter.
It worked out to essentially a six-point possession, giving Auburn a 37-32 lead.
“Our team just stepped up and played good,” Rivers said. “Everyone was playing together as a team. We got it done. Shots started falling, it was good.”
Auburn coach Ryan Hansen said he had faith in Rivers, the team’s top free-throw shooter, to convert all four attempts.
“Amar is a fantastic free-throw shooter,” Hansen said. “We do a free-throw competition every day in practice and Amar is at the top of our ladder. By being at the top, he earns the right to shoot our technical fouls. So every day in practice, he’s in a pressure situation. So I had no doubt he was going to go out there and sink four in a row.”
The six rapid points gave Auburn the lead, but maybe more significantly, all the momentum heading in the fourth quarter. The Trojans never looked back, leading the rest of the way to seal the win.
“We just have to keep grinding, get a little separation — that’s what we kept talking about on the bench,” Hansen said. “At that point, I think that put us up five and gave us the separation we’re looking for. We got eight stops in a row in the fourth quarter.”
AUBURN THE TOP DOGS IN 4A NPSL OLYMPIC
The Trojans finished in first in the regular season with a 14-1 mark in league play, beating second-place Federal Way in two of the team’s three meetings. There was some question at the beginning of the season if this Auburn team was for real; the Trojans have left no doubt as to the answer of that question.
“It’s everyone working together as a team,” Rivers said. “We all know our roles and we’re just playing to win. We’re not playing for individuality.”
Unselfish play is a theme echoed by both the team’s coaches and players.
“It’s a really special group — a group of guys that are really unselfish,” Hansen said. “We have nearly six guys averaging double figures, so that should tell you about their unselfishness. It’s a group, it’s just a bunch of winners. They just find ways.”
Like on Friday night, when the shots weren’t falling early on for the Trojans. At half, Auburn had just 18 points. But the best basketball teams can win in a variety of ways.
“They just grind and find ways to win,” Hansen said. “They care about each other. It’s going to take a special team down the road to beat us.”
YOUTH NO ISSUE FOR AUBURN
There are only two seniors on Auburn’s roster, but Hansen has known for some time that this group would be unique early on in their high school careers.
“A group of these guys have been playing together since third, fourth grade,” Hansen said. “We knew back then this was going to be a special group. They played this way since they were young. They always make the extra pass, they never put their heads down. They don’t care who the high scorer is.”
Rivers finished with a game-high 17 points and sophomore Maleek Arington added 14 points. Dae’Kwon Watson, another sophomore, added 10 points for the Torjans. And perhaps the team’s best player, Trevon Blassingame, another sophomore, didn’t play in Friday night’s game, as he’s continues to work back from a knee injury. Blassingame, who leads the team in points per game and rebounds, will make the rich even richer when he returns to the lineup, which could be as early as next week, just in time for the postseason.
“It’ll be a boost for sure because he’s a talented player,” Hansen said. “He’s our vocal leader, too. On the floor, he’s always talking, pulling the guys together. So we definitely missed having him out there tonight.”
Auburn has caught plenty of folks off guard this season, but don’t count Hansen among those surprised by the team’s success.
“Not knowing these guys as long as I have,” he said. “These guys are a group of winners.”
This story was originally published February 7, 2020 at 10:10 PM.
