(Adel) ADM rarely trailed in a 54-44 home basketball win over Harlan on Monday. The Tigers improve to 10-12 on the season with the first round win.
The lead changed hands four times early in the second quarter, but beyond that ADM played with the upper hand all night. The Tigers got 15 points from Tate Stine-Smith, 11 out of Vince Benetti, and hung on for the victory despite some free-throw struggles in the 2nd half.
Harlan was led in scoring by Brad Curren with 13 while Aidan Hall scored 12 and Connor Frame 10. The Cyclones close the season at 9-12. They were just 2-8 away from home on the year. Afterwards Harlan head coach Mitch Osborn said, “Give ADM a lot of credit and home court was a big advantage. We were the 5th seed and they were the 4th seed and whoever was going to get to play at home was going to be a big advantage. We couldn’t get over the hump. We had it down to three points. It fluctuated between three and eight the whole way. We just couldn’t get back-to-back buckets to go in to create that momentum for us. Give ADM credit.” Osborn added, “You can’t win many games when you score 44 points. It doesn’t make sense to score 68 at Carroll and score 44 tonight.”
The home squad grabbed the early lead by getting the ball inside. Benetti was effective in the paint in the first quarter and ADM stretched the lead to as many as 8 in the opening frame. Harlan closed within 13-8 going into the 2nd and then enjoyed an 8-2 stretch to grab a rare lead. They held advantages of 14-13 and 16-15, but ADM scored 18 of the final 25 points in the half. The Tigers wouldn’t trail the rest of the night. Harlan had a three point attempt rim out that would have tied the game at 35 in the third quarter. ADM led 39-32 going into the 4th and held off the Cyclones. The closest Harlan got the rest of the way was at 44-41, but ADM’s ball handling and offensive rebounding helped them seal it.
ADM advances to take on 4th ranked Dallas Center-Grimes on Thursday in the substate semifinals. The Mustangs were an 85-12 winner over Perry.
