The 23-24 ADM Tigers Boys Basketball team has had one of the best years in recent history. The Tigers had 2 goals coming into this basketball season. Their first goal was winning the conference. Their second was to win ADM a state championship.

The Tigers started the season off by getting obliterated by DCG in game one. Many Tiger fans thought, here we go again. It’s another year of being around .500. The very next game the Tigers beat Ballard in overtime with a score of 76-74. The narrative of being mediocre went away as the ADM Tigers went on to win 16 games in a row and were one of the best high school basketball teams in Iowa. ADM is led by the leadership of 5 seniors: Grant Rychnovsky, Adam Bryte, Rhylan Stine-Smith, Trevor Brancheau, and Tyler Gelhaar.

The Tigers won their first conference title since the 2008-09 season. ADM has been led in scoring by many different sources: Adam Bryte, Hudson Lorensen, Hudson Shull, Grant Rychnovsky, and Rhylan Stine-Smith. The Tigers also had a great supporting cast of Tyler Gelhaar, Caleb Oberhoffer, Wyatt Schweiger, and when called upon at times, Trey Bryte. ADM went on to finish conference play with a 14-1 record and secured a 1 seed in their post-season district.  The Tigers finished the regular season 18-3. ADM started postseason play with a win over 8-seed Atlantic 70-49. They advanced to the 2nd round of Substate where they faced off against Carroll for the 3rd time this season. The Tigers trailed the majority of the game. ADM trailed Carroll at half 26-20. They eventually got the lead late in the 4th quarter and didn’t look back after that. They went on to win 52-45. The Tigers advanced to the Substate final against Bondurant-Farrar with a trip to the state tournament in their sights. ADM fell to Bondurant in the Substate Final 60-58.

I asked some of the players what winning a conference title for the first time in 15 years means for ADM.

Adam Bryte: “I think it is gonna mean the start of an era where ADM basketball is important and well known. Before, ADM was known mostly for football and other sports, but I think with the great season we are having this year and the upcoming talent we have, ADM will become a school known for basketball in the coming years. You can already see the difference in attendance at the games. This year we’ve had tons of people at our games, which hasn’t always been the case in past years. Winning is making us relevant.”

Hudson Shull:  “I would say it’s been a pretty successful season. We haven’t won the conference for 15 years. Only 3 losses is pretty hard to do in one of the best conferences in 3A.”

Hudson Lorensen: “It shows how far our program has come the last couple of years we haven’t had much success. Being able to break through and win the conference is a big step for our program.”

Rhylan Stine-Smith: “It means a lot being this successful this year. It was definitely a big accomplishment for the guys, especially for me. Wanting to win a conference championship was really, really fun. I know that the guys put a lot of work in the off-season. Just having those supporting pieces is really the key to what we have been able to accomplish.”

Grant Rychnovsky: “Winning the conference for the first time in 15 years is really special. It was one of our goals at the beginning of the year and to achieve it is a testament to this team and the confidence we have in each other.”

Tyler Gelhaar: “It means a lot to know that we can start to bring winning back for ADM basketball. We have a tough conference so I think it just shows the toughness of our team.”

The Tigers finished the season with a 20-4 record.

Head Coach Trevor Mickelson: “Winning the conference title is a great accomplishment. It is a testament to the amount of work these guys have put in and hopefully it lays the foundation for future success. We hope it brings a ton of pride to our community and feels like it has done so. The fans at our games have been so energetic and passionate and we believe they are a big reason why we have had success. Our guys are excited to share this success with the ADM Community, but we know the job is not finished.”