It’s been pretty smooth sailing for the Auburn High School boys basketball team as the Trojans opened the 2024-25 season on a seven-game win streak. Their one loss came to Vista Murrieta in California two days after Christmas.

“The guys show up every day and are competitive kids and gym rats. It’s not surprising (to be 12-1), but if you asked me at the beginning of the season, I wouldn’t be sure if we would be 12-1,” Head Coach Ryan Hansen said.

Since then, Auburn has gone back to their winning ways and has now won five straight after defeating Tahoma 78-70 on Jan. 6.

With Kentwood losing to Kennedy Catholic the same night, Auburn now has a two-game cushion in first place in the NPSL.

“These guys expect to win. That’s a big thing mentally when you expect to win and are in a program that’s got a lot of wins, guys don’t want to be the group that stops that,” Hansen said.

Tahoma was the second seed in the state tournament last season, but looks much different this year. From last year’s team to this year’s team, seven seniors graduated from Tahoma’s roster. But what this year’s Tahoma team lacks in experience, they make up for in fire.

The Bears were right with Auburn, making a few shots and keeping up with the high-powered offense of Auburn. Carter Hansen was the catalyst to get Auburn in the game in the first quarter — his 10 points kick-started to Trojans. Auburn had just a five-point lead over the unproven Tahoma squad, 18-13.

In the second quarter, Tahoma kept the pressure up, even tying the game at 25-25 with 4:12 left in the half. Just three Auburn players recorded points in that second quarter: Hansen had six points, Daniel Johnson had four and Isaiah Englund also had six. Hansen made a three-pointer at the end of the half to put Auburn up, 34-28.

In the second half, Tahoma kept scratching and clawing, but every time they looked like they were building momentum, Auburn pulled away slightly.

Johnson had 11 points in the third quarter, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer as time expired in the third quarter. But the story was the support from Englund in the third.

“He’s definitely improved. He learned a bunch from people last year. He’s been workin’,” junior Daniel Johnson said.

Englund had six points and a block in the frame. As just a sophomore, he can be a cornerstone for this Auburn program, but he has a lot to learn.

“He’s getting more confidence… He brings a different aspect to our team with his size and ability to step outside and shoot. He’s just gotta be a little more consistent. That is part of taking the next step to being a great player,” Hansen said.

At the start of the fourth quarter, Auburn caused two turnovers from Tahoma, and Chase Mentink ended up taking a charge, and the Trojans found a spark to take control of the game. Hansen, Mentink and Johnson all made their presence felt in the win. All three impact the game in different ways, and that is one of the reasons this team is off to such a hot start — and has won 88% of their regular season games over the past three seasons.

“It’s nice to have a three-headed monster like that. The three of them are pretty good defensively and getting the ball to the right guy at the right time,” said Hansen.

That energy and impact is even making its way to the next generation of Trojans as well. Freshman Matthew Frederickson got some valuable minutes in the final quarter of the game and finished with seven points for Hansen and the Trojans.

“He’s got all the ability and physical tools. I thought he played well. He was ready tonight. He gave us some good minutes,” Hansen said.

After not playing any minutes in the Trojans previous game, Frederickson came ready to play against Tahoma.

“He’s doing great, I’m proud of him,” Johnson said.

Tahoma was able to get to the 70-point mark, which was just the second time all season a team had reached that milestone against Auburn.

“We allowed them to be comfortable and allowed them to run their stuff… We lost their guys a couple of times and they made us pay whenever that happened,” Hansen said.

“We don’t want to be in a position where we are giving up 70 points. You’re not going to win many basketball games when you do that… We gotta get better,” he added.

The 70-point mark also upset the players, just as much as Hansen. The Trojans know that they need to steer clear of that total.

“We were slacking on defense. We have to work harder in practice,” Johnson said.

Auburn takes on cross city rivals Auburn Riverside at home on Jan. 9.

“I’m excited. They aren’t gonna take us down, I know that for a fact,” Johnson said.

Auburn’s Carter Hansen faces up a Tahoma defender.