Heading into the season, ADM girls basketball head coach Corey Schneider said he knew it would be tough sledding for his team in the loaded Raccoon River Conference. The only problem is his team has hardly received any breaks in the con-conference schedule.

The Tigers will have take on their fifth ranked opponent in January on Tuesday with a road trip to Pella for a tough contest against the No. 12 Dutch. ADM is so far 0-4 against ranked opponents this season, though they’ve competed well in their last two such games.

ADM lost at No. 4 Carlisle by just six points last Tuesday, and had a lead heading into the fourth quarter before the Wildcats took control. Against No. 1 Harlan last Saturday, ADM cut the undefeated Cyclones’ lead to six in the third quarter, but ultimately Harlan regrouped to win by 18.

For the Tigers to pull an upset, they’ll have to do it on the defensive end. ADM has been much better offensively its last few games, but the Tigers still lack the offensive firepower to hang with most ranked teams. ADM has shown it can grind games out on the defensive end, having held No. 14 Dallas-Center Grimes to five points below its season average on January third, and both No. 5 Perry and Carlisle to 11 points below their season average.

Pregame coverage of the ADM basketball doubleheader from Pella begins at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday. The girls will tip at 6 and the boys game will follow on K107 and raccoonvalleyradio.com.