BACK 2 BACK HERMANN TITLES

By Will Johnson, Sports Editor
Posted 2/2/22

HERMANN — Defending their championship.

That was the goal throughout last week for Ryan Flanagan’s Owensville Dutchgirl basketball team at the Hermann Invitational Girls Basketball …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

BACK 2 BACK HERMANN TITLES

Posted

HERMANN — Defending their championship.

That was the goal throughout last week for Ryan Flanagan’s Owensville Dutchgirl basketball team at the Hermann Invitational Girls Basketball Tournament.

Dispatching Liberty Christian’s Lady Eagles in the first round and Hermann’s Lady Bearcats in the semifinals, Owensville matched up with Battle’s Lady Spartans out of Columbia Friday night in the championship game at Hermann High School.

Nursing a 33-24 halftime lead, Owensville came out hot on offense in the second half outscoring Battle 21-8 in the third quarter before going on to a 65-40 victory giving them their second-consecutive Hermann Tournament title.

“Our girls battled hard all week and did what it took to defend our title,” Flanagan said. “Our defense was outstanding which turned into instant offense against three good teams.”

Doubling up the Lady Spartans 18-9 after one quarter, seven different Dutchgirls found the scoring led by Kyla Hendrix’s four points.

Ali Daniels and Keira Hendrix added three first-quarter points followed by two each from Camryn Caldwell, Emma Daniels, Ella Gehlert and Anna Finley.

Playing the second quarter to a 15-15 tie, Owensville nearly had a double-digit halftime lead.

Kyla Hendrix added five second-quarter points giving her a team-leading nine first-half markers for the Dutchgirls.

Finley and Emma Daniels each added six first-half points.

Opening the second half on a double-digit run, the Dutchgirls blitzed the Lady Spartans 21-8 in the third quarter to take a 54-32 lead into the final eight minutes.

In spite of not connecting on a field-goal attempt in the fourth quarter, OHS hit 11 of their 14 free-throw attempts helping them become only the third team in tournament history to capture at least two titles in a row.

New Haven won consecutive titles at Hermann from 2001-02 and again from 2004-06 before the Lady Bearcats won three in a row from 2010-12.

Leading all scorers with a game-high 20 points. Finley became the first player in tournament history to win back-to-back Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards according to HHS Activities Director Todd Anderson.

Kyla Hendrix joined Finley in double figures with 14 points followed closely by Emma Daniels with 13 points.

Ali Daniels finished with five points followed closely by four points apiece from Caldwell, Gehlert and Keira Hendrix.

Anya Binkhoelter rounded out the Dutchgirl scoring in the title game with a fourth-quarter free throw for one point.

In Owensville’s 66-52 semifinal victory over Hermann, Finley led three Dutchgirls in double figures with 17 points followed by Emma Daniels with 16 points Keira Hendrix with 11.

Turning back Liberty Christian 57-29 after trailing 19-16 at halftime, Emma Daniels showed the way for the Dutchgirls with a game-high 20 points.

OHS ran their win streak to five with a 61-28 road victory Monday night at Blair Oaks.