Gasconade County Republican

Lauren Hendrickson and Kati Davis (above, from left) stay between their man and the basket Friday night during the championship game showdown with the Lady Bearcats in the 12th Annual Hermann Girls Basketball Invitational.HERMANN — Upsetting Chamois in the semifinals last Wednesday night, Owensville looked to avenge an earlier loss to Hermann in the championship game of the Hermann Girls Basketball Invitational Friday night against the host team.

Jumping out to a 20-6 lead after one quarter, the Dutchgirls simply could not overcome the early deficit in a 65-46 loss to the Lady Bearcats as they settled for second place in the tournament.

“We got off to a slow start, but we finished hard and played the best we could against a very good Hermann team,” Dutchgirl head coach Dwayne Clingman said. “We went 2-1 during all three of our tournaments and I just want to thank all of our fans for the support during all of the road games.”

Scoring four points midway through the first quarter, senior Hannah Roach got OHS on the board while Hermann ran their way to an 18-4 lead with 1:04 left in the first.

Trimming the lead to 13 at 23-10 with 6:10 left until halftime, the Lady Bearcats rattled off 11 unanswered points for a 34-10 lead at the 3:32 mark of the second quarter.

After consecutive baskets by Lauren Hendrickson and Grace Schlottach cut the lead back to 20, Dutchgirl head coach Dwayne Clingman was assessed a technical foul for firing up the crowd after back-to-back fouls were called on Hermann’s Lady Bearcats.

Recording the last four points of the half, the Lady Bearcats took a 38-14 lead into halftime. Roach led OHS with six first-half points.

Nearly seeing the deficit go over 30 points, Dutchgirl freshman Emily Ellis scored four points in the span of a minute to trim the lead back to 25 points with 5:32 left in the third, 43-18.

Even with Kati Davis and Hendrickson saddled in foul trouble, Owensville continued to battle in the third quarter keeping Hermann from pushing their lead over 30 points.

Entering the final eight minutes of the championship game, the Dutchgirls trailed the Lady Bearcats by a score of 55-30.

Showing they were not about to go away quietly, Owensville put together a 7-1 run capped by a pair of Davis baskets with five seconds of each other at the 6:07 mark of the fourth quarter.

Similar to their game in December, the Dutchgirls could not overcome an early deficit as they fell to Hermann in the title game by a score of 65-46 and took second place in a tournament for the second time this season.

“I was proud of the way that we played in the second half,” Clingman said. “Our girls did not give up and we simply dug ourselves too deep a hole in the first half.”

Dutchgirls vs. Chamois

Getting a second crack at Chamois in the championship semifinals of the Hermann Tournament last Wednesday night, Owensville took full advantage of the opportunity.

Trailing 31-27 with 4:16 remaining in the third quarter, the Dutchgirls outscored Chamois by an 18-7 margin to avenge an earlier 65-26 defeat with a 45-38 win at Hermann last week.

“This was a great defensive effort against a potent offense,” Clingman said. “After allowing 65 points the last time we played Chamois, we worked hard and got a win to advance to the championship game here in Hermann.”

Hendrickson led the Dutchgirls against Chamois with a game-high 19 points and was followed in double figures by Roach with 13 points. She also added four assists, two steals, two rebounds and a blocked shot to her 13 markers.

Even though she was held to six points against the Lady Pirates, Davis managed to pull down a game-high 12 rebounds for OHS.

Owensville will return to action Thursday at Pacific at 6 p.m.