Amidst all the wrestling action at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, the ADM Tiger boys basketball team was engaged in their final regular season game last night in the comforts of home against Newton. Coming into last night, the four year match up between ADM and Newton had been in favor of the road team and unfortunately for the Tigers, that trend would keep up as Newton ran away with the game in Adel 76-50.
It was a cold shooting night from the get go for the Tigers starting the game off trailing 9-0 while connecting on just 2/5 from field goal range in the first quarter. The Tigers found themselves down just 14-10 after one quarter but a 20-11 second quarter run by Newton set the Tigers down at the half 34-21. ADM didn’t have a single player touch double digit scoring inside the first half while connecting on just 4/14 field goal opportunities.
The Tigers did find a little spark in the third quarter where they posted up 17 points, 13 of which came from senior Tajen Ross. ADM had a 15 point deficit at the end of three quarters and didn’t help themselves out in the fourth quarter as it took almost a full four minutes before the Tigers would score in the final frame. Newton would outscore ADM 23-12 in the fourth quarter to seal the lead and the win.
All night long ADM had no answer for senior Connor Gholson pouring in a whopping 34 points and was one of three Cardinals to hit double digits on the score board. Meanwhile, ADM was led by senior Tajen Ross who ended his high school career on the ADM hardwood with 23 points, the only Tiger to breach more than 8 points on the night. Payton Conrad had a solid night acquiring 6 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists.
The Tigers now end the regular season with an overall mark of 11-10. The next match up on the docket will send the Tigers into postseason play on Monday in Atlantic to square off against the Harlan Cyclones beginning at 6:30 pm.