Lexington prevails in battle of the Yoders; Fieldcrest wins, both Titans fall short

It was Doug’s Lexington Minutemen getting the better of Brian’s Flanagan-Cornell Falcons in a battle of the Yoder brothers at The Fort on Friday. The win pushes Lexington to the 20-win plateau for the season.

Fieldcrest also protected the home court in a Heart of Illinois Conference win over Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley. El Paso-Gridley came up short in an overtime decision at Eureka, while Dwight and Woodland claimed wins in Tri-County Conference play. Monmouth-Roseville fell to Orion in TRAC play.

Lexington 76, Flanagan-Cornell 55

At Lexington, the annual Heart of Illinois Conference Battle of the Brothers Yoder took place Friday with Doug’s Lexington Minutemen coming out on top.

Behind the scoring of Blaine Friedmansky, a fast start and a strong finish put the Minutemen among the 20-game winners as LHS improved to 20-7 overall, and 5-3 in league play.

Lexington jumped out to a 19-6 lead in the first quarter and held that 13-point edge after three quarters. The Minutemen then outscored Flanagan-Cornell 25-17 in the final frame to close the door.

Friedmansky poured in 30 points on 11 of 18 shooting to lead the Minutemen. He also made 5 of 6 free throws while dishing off 4 assists. Joe Cheever contributed 9 points and 9 rebounds while Joe Steffen also scored 9 points. Camden McCue added 7 points while Kayden Knight and Drake Hari each scored 6 points. Brody Elmore tallied 5 markers.

Not to be outdone, Logan Ruddy dropped 30 points and snared 15 caroms for Flanagan-Cornell (6-18, 0-7). Riley Wallace added 9 points.

Eureka 51, EPG 47, OT

At Eureka, El Paso-Gridley got stung by Teagan McLaughlin, who buried a 3-pointer with 10 seconds to go in regulation to force overtime. McLaughlin’s Eureka Hornets then controlled the extra period for a 51-47 HOIC victory.

The game was close throughout with Eureka led by one after the opening lap and the Titans took a 20-16 advantage into the break. EPG’s lead increased 31-26 after three periods.

Braden Hayes paced El Paso-Gridley (13-11, 6-3) with 18 points. Jayvion Maxon added 12 points while Elijah Webster contributed 9 points and 7 rebounds. Jack Hempstead led the glass cleaners with 9 boards and Cha’von Maxon grabbed 8 boards.

Jacob Schulz led Eureka (16-8, 8-2) with 14 points and Jack Blunier added 13 points and 9 rebounds. McLaughlin finished with 9 points.

Fieldcrest 65, GCMS 52

At Minonk, Fieldcrest trailed at the end of the first quarter and then reeled off 18 points in each of the next two frames to take control of its HOIC contest with Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley.

The Knights were down 10-8 after one, but Kash Klendworth got hot to push FHS to a 26-20 halftime lead. Klendworth had 11 points in the second frame. Layten Gerdes scored eight points in the third period as the Fieldcrest lead grew to 44-34.

Klendworth finished with 26 points and Gerdes added 17 for Fieldcrest (13-10, 4-4). Eli Gerdes chipped in 11 points, Lucas May scored 6 and Drew Overrocker netted 5 points.

Dwight 76, Lowpoint-Washburn 52

At Washburn, five players reached double figures s Dwight garnered a 76-52 victory over host Lowpoint-Washburn in Tri-County Conference play.

Joey Starks led the balanced attack with 16 points while Joe Duffy tossed in 15 and Collin Bachand threw in 14 points for the Trojans (13-10, 5-2). Evan Cox and Trevor Jensen each chalked up 12 points.

Woodland 55, Henry-Senachwine 44

At Henry, Tri-County Conference tournament champion Woodland remained unbeaten in league play with a 55-44 victory over host Henry-Senachwine.

The Warriors (18-7, 7-0) trailed 9-8 after the first period but came back to hold a 24-23 edge by the half. WHS kept the train rolling by outscoring the mallards 14-10 in the third frame and 17-11 to close out the game.

Orion 58, Monmouth-Roseville 49

At Monmouth, a 13-point run for Orion in the opening quarter gave the Chargers a lead they did not give up as the visitors left town with a 58-49 victory over host Monmouth-Roseville in a Three Rivers Athletic Conference contest.

The Titans led 7-3 when Orion reeled off the next 13 points to lead 16-7 at the end of one. M-R trailed by as much as 13 before cutting the deficit to 30-21 by halftime.

The Titans trailed 38-21 in the third before making a charge. M-R outscored Orion 17-4 over the final four minutes to cut the margin to 42-38 heading into the last lap. The closest Monmouth-Roseville could get was at 46-43 after a Lars Bergren basket.

Cee Sarcomo led Monmouth-Roseville (9-14, 2-6) with 15 points. Bergren and Kaden Russell each netted 11 points while Nick Huston tossed in 7 and Elliott Rogers checked in with 5 points. Bergren and Huston swiped the glass for 8 rebounds apiece and Sarcomo snared 6 caroms.

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