Both the ADM girls and boys basketball teams are enjoying some time off for Christmas this week as they look to recharge over winter break. The girls team will resume practices on Friday with a scrimmage on New Year’s Eve, while the boys will return to the hardwood on Saturday.

For the girls team, it’s a time to evaluate what’s been an up-and-down start to the 2014-15 campaign. ADM began the year 2-1, averaging 55 points per game in that stretch. The Tigers could have easily gone 3-0 had they not blown a late lead in a 58-55 loss at Pella Christian. Since the 2-1 start, the ADM girls have gone 1-2, all three games against conference competition.

The Tigers lost to at Winterset and Ballard with a home win over Carroll sandwiched in between. The biggest culprit for ADM’s recent slide has been its offense. The Tigers scored just 41 points in the loss to Winterset, and 29 in the blowout loss at Ballard on Friday.

The ADM boys, meanwhile have been marred in an even longer offensive slump. The 1-5 boys Tigers have been trying to rediscover the form they had in their 73-66 win at Winterset, when they shot 42 percent from the floor and 57 percent on 3’s. Over their current four game losing streak, ADM has averaged just 51.5 points per game on 36 percent shooting from the field, and perhaps most telling for a smaller, guard-oriented team, 26 percent on 3-pointers. The Tigers smallest margin of defeat on the streak is nine points.

The girls and boys return to competition Saturday, January 3 in a home doubleheader against Dallas-Center Grimes. We’ll have the call for both games on K107 and raccoonvalleyradio.com, with pregame coverage to begin at 1:15 p.m.