• Photo Showcase: State tournament: Thursday

• Video: Highlights from the Minden-Falls City game:



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LINCOLN — Max Anderson gave Minden the spark it needed to overcome a 35-year drought.

Anderson scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half to help give the Whippets their first boys state basketball tournament victory since 1975 with a come-from-behind 46-41 win over Falls City in the opening round of the Class C-1 State Tournament Thursday.

The elusive win finally happened for a Minden squad that was knocked out in the first round of the 2008 and 2009 state tourneys.

“This is the best feeling I've had in two years,” Anderson said. “We didn't want to come down here again and lose that first game --- have that empty feeling."

Nine of Anderson's points came via 3-point plays — the third of which gave Minden its first lead since the first quarter at 41-39 with 1 minute, 33 seconds remaining in the game. Falls City guard Dillon Lotter, who scored 11 points, was whistled for a blocking foul — his fifth — as Anderson drove the hoop and scored.

“That was a bang-bang play. That play could've gone either way, and that play could've decided the game for us. But, luckily, we got the block call and the shot went in,” Anderson said.

Gavin Blum was the only other Whippet in double figures with 13 points. Minden trailed 31-28 heading into the fourth quarter before going 12 of 15 from the free-throw line in the final period to take the lead and hold it.

Falls City's 6-foot-5 post Trenton Scheitel, who averaged 20.3 points per game, was held to four points in the second half and finished with 12 points along with a game-high 13 rebounds.

Scheitel often met Minden's 6-foot-4, big-bodied Pete Trausch down low, and only made 5 of his 18 shot attempts. Trausch has committed to be an offensive lineman for University of Nebraska at Kearney.

Falls City coach Don Hogue felt more fouls could've been called on Trausch, and stressed the teams' disparity in free throws. Minden was 19 of 25 from the line, while Falls City was 4 of 11.

“When you don't get to the free-throw line like the other team then you're going to have a tough time winning,” Hogue said. "To know that it was a 4-point game, you have to give our kids a lot of credit.”

Falls City, which was making its first trip to state since winning the 1963 Class B state title, had its biggest lead at seven points with 1:23 left in the third quarter before Anderson answered with back-to-back 3-point plays to pull Minden within one.

“Those were huge. They were starting to get away a little bit. We talked to Max about driving a little bit more,” Minden coach Shannon Lovin said. “His shot wasn't falling from the outside so then he had to start driving the lane that he has done in the past.”

Falls City.......................12 11 8 10 -- 41
Minden.............................12 6 10 18 -- 46
• FC (23-3): Dillon Lotter 4-15 2-2 11, Michael Huettner 1-3 1-3 3, Logan Faller 1-4 0-0 2, Trenton Scheitel 5-18 1-4 12, Trevor Harling 2-4 0-0 4, Allan Feek 2-2 0-2 5, Jared Dishong 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 17-39 4-11 41.
• M (19-4): Max Anderson 5-9 4-5 14, Carson Blum 3-12 5-6 13, Ryan Bergstrom 2-9 2-3 7, Colby Emal 1-3 0-0 2, Ryan Kissinger 0-5 0-0 0, Christian Schwenka 1-3 0-0 2, Peter Trausch 0-3 8-11 8. Totals 12-44 19-25 46.
• 3-point goals: FC 3-13 (Lotter 1-7, Scheitel 1-4, Feek 1-1, Faller 0-1), MIN 3-15 (Blum 2-4, Bergstrom 1-4, Kissinger 0-3, Anderson 0-4). Rebounds: FC 29 (Scheitel 13), MIN 40 (Trausch 8). Total fouls: FC 20, MIN 12. Fouled out: Lotter. Technical fouls: None. Assists: FC 9 (Lotter, Faller 3), MIN 6 (Blum 4). Turnovers: FC 10, MIN 14. Blocks: FC 4 (Scheitel 3), MIN 6 (Schwenka, Blum 2). Steals: FC 7 (Lotter 3), MIN 6 (Six players with 1).

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