Ending 2020 on a three-game winning streak, Owensville’s eighth-grade Dutchmen coached by Taylor Payne opened the new year with a win over Pacific to extend the streak to four victories.

Three days removed from a victory on the road last Monday at Hermann, Payne’s OMS Dutchmen went for their sixth in a row Thursday night at Owensville Elementary School against Sullivan’s Eagles.

Able to survive a flat first quarter with a 3-1 lead, OMS outscored the visitors from Sullivan 24-10 the rest of the game going on to a 27-11 victory to run their current winning streak to six in a row.

In the aforementioned first quarter that saw both teams combine for four points, Noah Caldwell scored two for the Dutchmen while a Connor Fischer free throw accounted for the other OMS point in the first quarter.

Outscoring Sullivan 10-3 in the second quarter, Owensville went into halftime with a 13-4 lead.

Ethan Ditto scored five second-quarter points to lead all scorers in the first half.

Also landing in the scoring column for the Dutchmen in the second quarter were Eli Graham (2), Caldwell (2) and Jansen Loeb (1).

Putting seven points on the board in both the third and fourth quarters, Owensville closed the home portion of their schedule on a winning note.

Ditto, Fischer and Caldwell shared game-high scoring honors leading OMS’ 8th grade Dutchmen with five points apiece.

Eli Graham added four points followed by three markers from Loeb.

Noel Bagiuo and Brandon Graham chipped in two points each while Elias Medlock added a third-quarter free throw for one point to round out the scoring for Owensville.

Eli Graham led the Dutchmen on the glass with seven rebounds followed closely with six boards from Ditto.

Caldwell, Ditto, Loeb and Eli Graham all had two steals for Owensville.

Kaden Smith, Zechariah Beagle and Nate McReynolds each led Sullivan with three points.

In the seventh-grade portion of Thursday’s doubleheader, Owensville held a 12-8 halftime lead before a shot at the buzzer by Sullivan put the Dutchmen on the wrong end of a 29-27 final score.

Jumping out to a 10-4 lead after one quarter against Sullivan, Corbyn Hamann and Chase Weirich each scored three points for the seventh-grade Dutchmen in the first six minutes.

Doubled up 4-2 by Sullivan in the second quarter, a Weirich basket helped Owensville to a four-point lead at halftime.

Weirich and Sullivan’s Chase Blue led their respective teams with five first-half points.

Limited to four points in the third quarter, the Dutchmen ended the third quarter trailing the Eagles 20-16.

Hamann paced Owensville with three points in the third quarter.

Able to edge Sullivan 11-9 in the final six minutes, Shane Hunt’s seventh-grade Dutchmen came up just short in their bid for a comeback victory.

Adding to his five first-half points, Weirich added nine in the second half giving him a game-high 14 points to lead Owensville.

Hamann followed with six points while Logan Valley chipped in four points.

Drew Chapman (2), and Chris Allen (1) rounded out the scoring for the seventh-grade Dutchmen.

In addition to his 14 points, Weirich also recorded 11 rebounds, five steals and four blocked shots.

Three nights earlier at Hermann, Owensville’s Dutchmen were going for Gasconade County middle school boys basketball bragging rights.

Kicking off the twin bill in Hermann was a tight seventh-grade contest.

Tied at 4-4 after one quarter and deadlocked at 14-14 at halftime, the seventh-grade Dutchmen outscored the Bearcats 25-23 in the second half posting a 39-37 overtime victory in northern Gasconade County.

Weirich led all scorers with a game-high 20 points. Adam Wilson also reached double figures with 14 points against the Bearcats.

Chapman and Hamann each scored two points while Allen added one point on a fourth-quarter free throw.

Going for the sweep in the eighth-grade portion of the doubleheader, Payne’s Dutchmen jumped out to a 15-2 lead after one quarter before going on to a 32-24 victory.

Scoring five points each for the Dutchmen in that 15-point first quarter were Ditto, Caldwell and Loeb.

In spite of being outscored 22-17 the rest of the game, Owensville held on to sweep middle school boys basketball bragging rights from the host Bearcats.

Caldwell led the eighth-grade Dutchmen with nine points followed closely with eight markers from Loeb.

Ditto kicked in seven points in addition to four second-half points from Fischer.

Eli and Brandon Graham each scored two points to round out the Dutchmen scoring against Hermann.