Friedmansky paces Lexington past GCMS

By Erich Murphy

Bingo Magic Sports

LEXINGTON — Blaine Friedmansky was recognized for the accomplishment of reaching the 1,000-point milestone for his basketball career at Lexington. The Minutemen senior then went out and dropped 24 points in a 75-57 Heart of Illinois Conference victory over Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley at The Fort on Tuesday.

Lexington’s Blaine Friedmansky pulls up on a drive to the basket against GCMS. Friedmansky scored 24 points in the 75-57 win for the Minutemen.

Friedmansky was quite consistent in his scoring output against the Falcons, hitting for six points in the first quarter and seven in the second. He added five points in the third frame and finished with six, including hitting all four free throw attempts, in the last stanza.

Although the high-scoring senior did his thing, it was the addition of his teammates that helped the Minutemen pull away. Seven players made the scoring column for Lexington.

The most prolific scorer after Friedmansky was Bo Stutzman, who tallied 18 markers, including hitting for 11 in the fourth quarter as Lexington extended a 53-44 lead to the final difference.

Lexington’s Bo Stutzman drives to the basket against GCMS. Stutzman scored 18 points for the Minutemen.

Lexington really got rolling after falling behind 11-6 in the first frame. Friedmansky started the surge with deuce in the paint with 4:22 left in the opening lap.

Joe Steffen drilled a pair of 3-pointers in the final 61 seconds to push the Minutemen to a 24-13 advantage by the end of the quarter.

Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley drew to within three, at 30-27 after a Christian Brown basket, but the Minutemen closed out the half with an eight-point spurt over the final 2:46 to lead 38-27 at the intermission.

GCMS stayed within range early in the fourth until Leo Davis and Stutzman each buried treys and Stutzman added a runner for a 64-49 lead with 3:16 to go. This run closed the door on the Falcons.

Joe Cheever snares a rebound against Zeb Greer of GCMS. Cheever finished with 14 boards for Lexington.

Drake Hari added 13 points while Davis and Steffen each tossed 6 points for Lexington (14-3). Cheever contributed 14 rebounds while Davis recorded 5 boards and 7 assists.

Brown scored 15 points and Graydon Leonard tallied 13 markers for GCMS (8-9).