Last season, Adel-De Soto-Minburn advanced to the Iowa high school boys state basketball tournament for the first time in 13 years.
The Tigers lost in the semifinal but, with several juniors in the starting lineup, hopes were high for a return trip to downtown Des Moines. Except history wasn’t on ADM’s side, since the boys basketball program had never made it to state in back-to-back seasons.
That changed this year, as ADM entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed. And the Tigers will stick around for at least one more game after beating Xavier, 69-59, in a Class 3A quarterfinal on March 9 at Casey’s Center.
“Last year, there was such a relief … just getting here and getting to that point,” coach Trevor Mickelson said after the victory. “This year, the expectations were quite a bit different, so we’re excited. … We’ve had a really good focus, and it helps when we got really good senior leaders.”
Hudson Lorensen led ADM with 34 points, including a team-high four 3-pointers. Trey Bryte finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
“I was just able to get to the lane, get moving early,” said Lorensen. “I feel like down here, it’s big to see shots go early, so to be able to get to the rim, go to the free-throw line, see a couple go down early … you can open up your game.”
ADM finished the first quarter with an 18-14 lead after shooting 61% from the field – which included a pair of 3-pointers.
The Tigers piled on eight unanswered points in the opening minutes of the second quarter, and it took Xavier 3 1/2 minutes to put any points on the board.
Xavier’s Zander Murray hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the first half, but ADM headed to the locker room with a comfortable 40-25 lead.
“We got good stops,” Mickelson said about how his team built its lead. “I thought we did a really good job making everything difficult for them. And then that allowed us to get out and run a little bit, which is when we’re at our best.”
That lead nearly disappeared in the first two minutes of the second half. ADM turned over the ball twice, and Xavier scored nine straight points before the Tigers took a timeout. ADM recovered and entered the fourth quarter with a 54-43 lead.
Xavier outscored ADM, 10-2, to start the final quarter, cutting the Tigers’ lead to three points. It was the ADM’s smallest lead since late in the first quarter. The Saints’ rally fell short, with some late free throws from ADM sealing the win.
Free throws proved to be a difference in this game. Xavier made just five of its 15 attempts from the foul line, including a 0-for-7 start. The Tigers, meanwhile, made 22-of-23 free throws.
“We spend a ton of time at the free-throw line,” said Mickelson. “We know our guys are skilled enough that we’re going to put them in positions … to get to the free-throw line. In these close games, that’s typically going to be one of the things that’s the difference.”
ADM will play the winner of Solon vs. Storm Lake on Wednesday, March 11 at 7:15 p.m.
Alyssa Hertel is the college sports recruiting reporter for the Des Moines Register. Contact Alyssa at ahertel@dmreg.com or on Twitter @AlyssaHertel.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: ADM basketball advances to state semifinals with win over Xavier
Reporting by Alyssa Hertel, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
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