SULLIVAN — Playing three games in three days last week, Ryan Flanagan’s Owensville Dutchgirls looked to close the 2019 portion of their season on a winning note during the 8th Annual Peoples Bank Holiday Classic (PBHC) in Sullivan.

Upsetting third-seeded St. James before falling to second-seeded Helias in the semifinals, Owensville found themselves in Friday’s third-place game against the St. Francis Borgia Lady Knights.

Hitting the game-winning 3-pointer against St. James two nights earlier, Keira Hendrix delivered more late-game heroics Friday night.

Tied at 35-35 with under two minutes left, Keira splashed home another 3-pointer with 1:19 remaining to give the Dutchgirls the lead for good.

Four Anna Finley free throws in the final :42 put the final touches on Owensville’s first girl’s basketball victory over the Lady Knights in nearly 17 years, 42-37.

“Coach (Flanagan) reminded us at the beginning of the tournament that we needed to go into it believing in ourselves,” Keira Hendrix said.

Playing to a 16-16 halftime tie, Owensville and Borgia both scored nine points in the third quarter to go into the final eight minutes tied at 25-25.

Scoring seven of the game’s final nine points, Flanagan’s Dutchgirls found out that hard work pays off.

“I think it’s safe to say that we all believed, because the hard work was truly shown at this tournament,” Keira Hendrix said.

Surviving two ties and four lead changes in the first quarter, 3-point shots from Katelyn Landolt and Anna Finley gave Owensville a 10-6 lead over the Lady Knights.

Borgia appeared on their way to a 16-13 halftime lead before Finley buried another 3-ball with :32 ticks remaining in a first half that ended in a 16-16 stalemate.

Finley had six points to lead the Dutchgirls in the first half. Borgia’s Kaitlyn Patke also had six first-half points to pace the Lady Knights.

Able to overcome seven third-quarter points from Borgia’s Grace Turilli, Owensville got points from Landolt (5), Finley (2) and Landry Watson (2) to keep that game tied after three quarters at 25-25.

Down as much as five points in the fourth quarter, seven was a lucky number for the Dutchgirls in the final eight minutes.

Buckets from the Hendrix twins (Keira and Kyla) along with a 3-ball from Anna Skornia gave Owensville a 32-30 lead with 3:53 to go.

“Knowing that our hard work and all of our dedication as a team we put in everyday at the gym is finally paying off feels great,” Skornia said. “I can’t wait to see what the future brings for us.”

Trading points over the next minute, another Finley 3-pointer put the Dutchgirls back in front 35-33 with 2:51 remaining.

Following a Turilli jumper that knotted the game at 35-35, OHS outscored Borgia 7-2 over the final 1:19 of the game.

Finishing with a game-high 15 points, Finley flirted with a triple double adding eight rebounds and seven assists to her point total.

Landolt (8) and Skornia (7) came close to making it a trio of Dutchgirls in double-digit scoring.

Keira and Kyla Hendrix both added five points with Watson rounding out the Dutchgirl scoring with two points.

Looking for their second upset in as many games, Owensville took on second-seeded Helias in the championship semifinals Thursday night.

Leading the Lady Crusaders 28-27 on a 3-ball by Finley from the volleyball spike line, OHS saw Helias end the game on a 7-2 run sending them to the third-place game after a 34-30 loss.

Finley led all scorers with 12 points in addition to five steals.

Alisha Berhorst paced Helias with a team-high 10 points.

Opening the tournament last Wednesday, sixth-seeded Owensville took on third-seeded St. James.

Using a 9-3 second quarter to take a 16-12 halftime lead, Owensville survived 23 turnovers getting a Keira Hendrix 3-ball with :07 ticks left in their 29-27 win over St. James’ Lady Tigers.