Minden is 1-8 against St. Cecilia since January of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Monday. The Minden Whippets will head out on the road to challenge the St. Cecilia Bluehawks at 6:00 p.m. Minden is no doubt hoping to put an end to a four-game streak of away losses.
You can't lose the game if you win every quarter, and that was precisely Minden's strategy against Wood River on Thursday. Minden enjoyed a cozy 63-45 victory over Wood River.
Austin Lutkemeier went supernova for Minden, scoring 15 points along with six assists and five rebounds. It was the first time this season that Lutkemeier scored 15 or more points. Jake Ryan was another key contributor, scoring 13 points along with five assists and two steals.
Meanwhile, St. Cecilia's recent rough patch got a bit rougher on Saturday after their third straight defeat. They took a hard 51-37 fall against Lincoln Lutheran. While losing is never fun, St. Cecilia can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Nebraska basketball rankings (they are ranked 90th, while Lincoln Lutheran is ranked 30th).
Minden's victory bumped their record up to 8-10. As for St. Cecilia, their loss ended an 11-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 9-9.
Minden didn't have too much breathing room in their contest against St. Cecilia in their previous meeting back in January of 2023, but they still walked away with a 63-57 win. The rematch might be a little tougher for Minden since the team won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
