On Tuesday, January 10, the ADM boys hosted the Carlisle Wildcats in “The Den.”

The Wildcats came into the game with a 4-3 record, 3-2 in the conference, whereas ADM had a 5-4 record and also 3-2 in the conference. ADM has been playing really hot, winning their last two games on a combined 22 points in wins over two solid teams. The Tigers look to jump on a Carlisle team that lost to Winterset by 23 points. All the cards were there for the Tigers, they just needed to execute like they had been recently.

Senior Matthew Larson said, “I think our defensive intensity has really picked up as we’ve held our opponents to an average of only 49 points the last two games.”

Larson also said the good defense takes the pressure off of the team’s offense so they’re not trying to force baskets and they can find good shots to take.

During tonight’s game, however, defense was one of a few problems for the Tigers. For the majority of the game, ADM was up on Carlisle. It was late in the game that the Wildcats decided to strike.

During the first half the Tigers were after it on both ends of the ball. Matthew Larson had a huge block on Carlisle’s Max Evans to get the team back into it and get the crowd into it.  The Momentum didn’t last long as Evans comes back down the court to drain a three. The game was pretty even back and forth for a while before ADM goes into the half with a two point lead 33-31 Tigers.

During the second half, the Tigers looked a little flat, a lot different than how they did last week, taking bad shots leading to poor defense on the other way. Defense and offense seemed to go hand and hand for the Tigers, if one wasn’t there, the other wasn’t all the way there either. It didn’t help when it seemed that the Wildcats were making just about every floater and hook shot they threw up. The one thing that hurt the Tigers the most was making free throws. All throughout the game the Tigers just couldn’t get them to fall. Carlisle edged out ADM 69-73

The Tigers may have fallen but they still have been playing really solid lately and with a big game coming up on Friday. Payton Conrad said, “We weren’t dialed in enough tonight. We had a light practice on
Thursday and came into the game lazy on both sides of the ball.”

Conrad added, “We have a big game on Friday and we have shown we can play in those big games. We just gotta come out focused and ready to go.”

Come out to “The Den” on Friday, January 13, as ADM hosts Boone in a big Conference Matchup.