"More Than a Game" is a quintessential American story of perseverance. It also is a story about the bonds of friendship and the often-bumpy process of coming of age.

As NBA star LeBron James puts it in this moving documentary, "Basketball is a vehicle."

And as his boyhood coach says, playing the sport taught James and his four close buddies and high school teammates how to become men. Hoop dreams led to real-life achievements for this quintet of Ohio players, despite more than their fair share of life's adversities.

It's an inspiring tale not just for lovers of basketball, although the games featured are so thrilling and tense that it's a challenge to remain sitting placidly in one's seat.

As a film student, director Kristopher Belman had documented several seasons of the top-ranked team at Akron's St. Vincent-St. Mary High School. He was able to use the best of that footage for this film, interspersed with interviews with the players and their families, plus personal photos and home videos. It all makes for enthralling viewing.

The personal sagas of each of the "Fab Four" — James, Dru Joyce III, Sian Cotton and Willie McGee — who later add a fifth, Romeo Travis — all are fascinating in their own right. Together, they make for a powerful testament to determination, loyalty and commitment.

The relationship between the diminutive Joyce and his dedicated but inexperienced father, coach Dru, is complex. Coach Dru speaks with unabashed honesty about fearing that his son and the other boys might have lost the innocence of childhood by working so hard in youth basketball as 11-year-olds.

As he laughingly recounts the boys' efforts to raise funds for their childhood tournaments — selling duct tape proved the most profitable — he also speaks candidly of driving his son so hard that he fears it hurt their relationship.

The film traces nine key years in the lives of these impressive young men, from their early years as "Shooting Stars" to their ranking at the top of the nation's high school teams.

James' preternatural talents emerged at an early age. Raised by an unwed teenage mom, he sought stability and a sense of family. He speaks of feeling secure only when on the court. McGee, originally from Chicago, is taken in by his kindhearted brother and saved from a troubled adolescence.

Cotton is trying to establish his own identity, out from under the shadow of his dad. Along the way, they accept transfer student Travis into their inner circle, after initially being put off by his sullen attitude.

They become champions, going from playing in a humble inner-city gym to the huge auditorium of a local college, finding a way to cope when their teammate James becomes a celebrity, featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated while still in high school.

All, except James, went on to college. He, of course, signed on with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003, breaking records and winning Olympic medals.

While "More Than a Game" is a terrific exhibition of talent, exuberance and skill, it is above all a moving tribute to enduring friendship.