HERMANN — Defeating New Haven and St. Clair earlier in their first two games, Ryan Flanagan’s Owensville Dutchgirl basketball team looked to punctuate a 3-0 week at the Hermann Invitational Girls Basketball Tournament Friday night with a victory in the championship game.

Facing the top-seeded California Lady Pintos, OHS trailed most of the game.

Taking a 47-46 lead on an Anna Finley free throw with 1:16 remaining, CHS answered with a bucket :26 later for a 48-47 lead.

That set up a dramatic ending to a hotly-contested championship game.

Rebounding a missed Lady Pinto shot with less than 10 seconds left, Dutchgirl freshman Emma Daniels kept the ball in her hands.

Getting off a left-handed shot as time was expiring, it went in and a celebration ensued for Owensville’s first Hermann Tournament title since 2015 following a 49-48 victory.

“Man, I really gotta make this because I just messed up a previous play,” Daniels said. “I was just trying to get that last-second shot off so I could help my team win.”

That shot gave Daniels a game-high 17 points and was her lone bucket of the fourth quarter.

Trailing 2-0 in the opening minute of the game, Daniels gave Owensville their first lead of the game on a 3-pointer at 3-2 with 6:22 for the first quarter.

Seeing California close the quarter on a 10-3 run, the Dutchgirls trailed the Lady Pintos 12-6.

Trading baskets virtually the entire second quarter, Owensville went into halftime trailing 29-20.

Daniels led the Dutchgirls with seven first-half points followed closely by Kyla Hendrix with five first-half points.

Down as much as 10 points in the third quarter, OHS trailed 38-30 at the 2:36 mark of the quarter before embarking on a run to get back into the game.

Started by a Katelyn Landolt 3-pointer at the 2:20 mark of the quarter, Owensville scored the next seven points to trim the California lead to 38-37 with 1:16 left on a Daniels bucket.

A Lady Pinto bucket with :46 for the quarter gave California a 40-37 lead entering the fourth quarter of the championship game from Hermann.

Closing back within one on a Kyla Hendrix basket with 3:40 remaining, the Dutchgirls drew even nearly a minute later.

Kyla knocked down a 3-pointer tying the game at 44-44 with 2:54 left in regulation.

After a Lauren Fredrich bucket gave the Lady Pintos a 46-44 lead with 2:42 to go, Kyla answered eight seconds later with another basket knotting the game at 46-46.

Surviving three more lead changes over the final 1:16, Owensville won the Hermann Tournament for just the second time in program history.

“They’re well coached and have some players,” Flanagan said of California’s Lady Pintos. “That was a good win for us and our program.”

Following Daniels’ aforementioned game-high 17 points, Kyla Hendrix also finished in double figures with 12 points scoring seven of those in the fourth quarter.

Held in check by a stingy Lady Pinto defense, Finley finished with nine points.

Named the tournament Most Valuable Player (MVP), Finley found other ways to contribute in spite of being limited to nine points.

“It feels pretty good,” Finley said. “I couldn’t have done it without my teammates. There’s other ways to contribute and I was able to get everybody the ball so they could score.”

Anna Skornia added four points and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds for the victorious Dutchgirls.

Landolt added three points and recorded a team-high three steals.

Landry Watson and Kate Angell rounded out the Dutchgirl scoring against California with two points each.

Dutchgirls vs. St. Clair

Defeating New Haven in first-round action last Monday, Flanagan’s Dutchgirls earned another showdown with St. Clair’s Lady Bulldogs in the championship semifinals from Hermann.

Originally scheduled for last Wednesday, they were pushed back a day due to winter weather that hit the area.

Trailing 16-14 near the midway point of the second quarter, Owensville closed the first half on an 8-3 run.

Nursing a 22-19 halftime lead, the Dutchgirls opened the second half on a 14-3 run to keep the lead for good before going on to a 56-47 semifinal victory.

Scoring the first four points of the game, Owensville saw St. Clair answer with a 12-3 run to end the first quarter trailing the Lady Bulldogs 12-7.

To open the second quarter, the Dutchgirls answered St. Clair’s run with a 7-2 run of their own to tie the game at 14-14 on a Finley 3-pointer with 4:44 until halftime.

After a Lani Bursey basket gave St. Clair a 16-14 lead seconds later, Finley and Daniels combined to score Owensville’s eight remaining points helping them to a 22-19 halftime lead.

Finley nearly equaled St. Clair’s first-half point total scoring 14 points in the first two quarters.

Bursey led St. Clair with eight first-half points.

Seeing the Lady Bulldogs tie the game at 22-22 to open the second half, Finley singlehandedly put the Dutchgirls back in front.

Thanks to an old-fashioned 3-point play and two conventional 3-pointers from Finley, Owensville suddenly found themselves with a 31-22 lead at the 5:01 mark of the third quarter.

A Kyla Hendrix bucket and a Daniels 3-pointer capped a 14-0 Dutchgirl run giving them a 36-22 lead with 3:32 left for the quarter.

Outscored 9-5 to end the third, OHS went into the fourth quarter with a 41-31 lead over the Lady Bulldogs.

Withstanding a 10-4 St. Clair run to open the fourth quarter, Owensville held on to advance to the championship game at Hermann.

Finley led all scorers with a game-high 27 points followed by Daniels who scored 11 of her 16 points in the second half.

Kyla Hendrix scored five of her seven points in the second half to help hold off St. Clair’s rally attempt in the fourth quarter.

Angell added a fourth-quarter 3-pointer that gave Owensville the lead for good with 3:17 left.

Skornia also scored her lone two points of the game right before Angell’s 3-pointer.

Keira Hendrix also chipped in a first-quarter free throw for one point against the Lady Bulldogs.

In first-round action last Monday against New Haven, Owensville turned a 14-14 tie after one quarter into a 67-33 victory.

Finley led four Dutchgirls in double figures with 19 points.

Daniels (11), Watson (10) and Kyla Hendrix (10) also reached double digits for OHS.