MARS — Simply put, these kids can play.

The Caveman Evolution sixth-grade AAU basketball team, based out of Mars and featuring five players from Butler County, is the top-ranked team in its age group in the Pittsburgh area. The squad is ranked among the top 10 in the tri-state region, which includes Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati.

“Four fathers of kids on our team played college basketball,” said Eric Cunningham, the team’s coach. “A lot of these kids have been well-schooled on the game for a long time.”

It’s showing in their results on the court.

Caveman Evolution has won 42 of the 47 games it’s played this season. The team has played in eight tournaments — including four seventh-grade tourneys — and reached the championship game in every one. The squad has won four tournament titles.

Butler players on the team are 6-foot-2 Charlie Kreinbucker and Raine Gratzmiller. Mars players on the roster are shooting guard Bryce Cunningham, guard Zach Schlegel and point guard Austin Cote.

Kreinbucker and Cunningham are averaging more than 18 points per game. Kreinbucker is pulling down more than 10 rebounds per contest.

“Every tournament we play in, coaches are telling us Charlie is the best sixth-grade center they’ve seen in a long while,” Coach Cunningham said. “That kid definitely has a future in basketball.

“Besides him, we’ve got a couple of 5-10 guys, Bryce is over 5-9 ... size has been to our advantage.”

Kreinbucker and Bryce Cunningham have been invited to the Neo Elite Showcase June 24-25 in Garfield Heights, Ohio. They will have a chance to compete against the top sixth-grade basketball players in the country there.

The team has hit as many as 16 3-pointers in one game this year. While Caveman Evolution has scored as many as 91 points in a contest, it routinely holds the opposition below 30.

“This is a special group,” Cunningham said.

The team has played in tournaments in Ohio, Kentucky, Maryland and Philadelphia, besides local events. It won a national qualifier tournament at Southpointe recently and will compete at AAU nationals in Hampton, Va., in mid-July.

“We had 45 kids try out for this team and we kept 10,” Cunningham said. “These are talented kids who are playing well together. Their results speak for themselves.”