Heading into the 2016-17 season no one quite knew what to expect from the Lady Tiger basketball program.

The arrival of Rick Dillinger as head coach for the ADM girls basketball team meant that the Lady Tigers would have been under the direction of three head coaches in the last four seasons not to mention the loss of senior talent and leadership that helped them make it one game shy of the state tournament last year.

Despite all the uncertainty, as ADM activities director Reece Satre told Raccoon Valley Radio, while not sure how the season would end, they were sure it would be a slow start as everyone got used to the style of coach Dillinger.

“A conversation that coach (Dillinger) and I had early on in the season looked at the season almost in four parts to where we knew with him coming in it would take awhile to kinda adjust to him. He’s got a little bit different coaching style than what our previous coach had. It was going to take awhile for kids to trust him and believe what he was telling them; they couldn’t just jump in there even though I knew he knew what he was talking about so it was kind of interesting to go through a preseason where they’re doing a lot of learning and skill development up front and then seeing that first time through the conference slate,” stated Reece.

Despite the slow start, it was the second contest against Carroll where ADM started to find their gelling point and even found there way into the mid to high 50’s in terms of points per game averages. They even ended their solid 8-14 season locked solidly second in the conference in total rebounds (763).

During the second half success for the Lady Tigers many individuals, players and coaches alike, could trace their successes on the court back to the great work done by coach Dillinger, which Reece also reiterated to Raccoon Valley Radio.

“Coach (Dillinger) and his staff with another year together and all of those lower level coaches all the way down to middle school spending some time spending some time with coach Dillinger; he does not only a great job of teaching kids, but also mentoring coaches that are willing to just soak it all in. I don’t have any doubt that our skill development will increase dramatically. If our kids show up in the gym this summer and they come with the right attitude and they’re willing to be around the game and coach (Dillinger), he can impart so much wisdom on them,” continued Reece.