The ADM boys basketball season is now in the books after the Tigers lost in their first playoff game to Harlan on Monday.

Despite the margin of defeat being 20 points against the Cyclones, ADM head coach Aaron Mager feels his team actually played well against the number three team in the state.

“(Our) guys’ passion was there which is what you want.  They’re competitive spirit–you want them to be emotionally engaged and they were certainly that.  I thought they were pretty dialed in from an execution standpoint, they knew what the game plan was and they did a good job with that.  To give Harlan some credit, they were able to counter by making some shots we gave them–to provide help inside we were going to have to give some things up on the outside and… they’re just good, I can’t say it any other way.  I think we would have beat a lot of other teams Monday night.”

Watching the season come to an end is never easy, but even with a first-round playoff exit, Coach Mager says this season’s 6-16 record comes with a silver lining.

“I feel like we were successful, I felt like the kids continued to get better every day–not that you don’t take a step back here or there.  But for the most part their focus was to get better and they worked at that, worked extra after practice even.  We were successful in many aspects, but if you look at win/loss (record), unfortunately that tells you you’re not as successful as you want to be… you can’t ignore that either but I do think you can define success in various ways.”

Stay tuned to K107 or visit our website at RaccoonValleyRadio.com for continuing basketball season recap coverage in the days ahead.