ELDON — Eight (years) was enough.

Entering their Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) Class 4, District 10 Girls Basketball Tournament championship game Friday night, John VanLeer’s Owensville Dutchgirls were looking to end an eight-year title drought with a victory over the School of the Osage Lady Indians.

Trailing 7-6 after one quarter, Owensville broke a 14-14 tie in the second quarter with an 11-0 run before Osage pulled back to within six points at halftime, 27-21.

Nearly doubling up Osage in the second half, VanLeer’s Dutchgirls rode their hot and timely 3-point shooting to a 55-40 victory giving them the district championship plaque.

“I’m so proud of our girls and how hard they have worked to get to this point,” VanLeer said. “It was a total team effort with everyone who stepped on the floor making valuable contributions in one way or another.”

Trailing 2-0 with 6:15 for the first quarter, senior Emma Daniels splashed home a 3-pointer giving the Dutchgirls their first lead of the game at 3-2 with 3:50 for the period.

After Osage scored the next five points, an Ali Daniels 3-ball helped the orange and black enter the second quarter trailing by just one point, 7-6.

Tied at 14-14 with 5:35 until halftime, Camryn Caldwell hit her third 3-pointer of the second quarter sparking an 11-0 run to give Owensville a 25-14 advantage with 3:12 for the first half.

Scoring five of Osage’s next seven points, senior Lauren Bartlett helped the Lady Indians trim Owensville’s halftime lead to six at 27-21.

Caldwell led the Dutchgirls and all first-half scorers with 15 points on her five second-quarter 3-pointers.

Leading 30-25 with 6:56 for the third quarter, Ali Daniels sparked a 12-2 run with the remaining 10 points coming from her cousin Emma helping the Dutchgirls to a 42-27 lead after three quarter.

Eight minutes from their first district championship in nearly a decade, Owensville saw Osage hit a pair of 3-pointers trimming their lead to 44-30 at the 5:58 mark of the fourth quarter.

Going 7-9 from the free-throw line over the final 5:04, VanLeer’s Dutchgirls were able to celebrate their first district title since 2016.

Held to three points in the first half, Emma Daniels scored 17 of her game-high 20 points in the second half leading a trio of Dutchgirls in double figures.

Ali Daniels added a double double of 17 points, 11 rebounds, four steals and two assists while Caldwell finished with 17 points and four assists.

Emma Daniels also matched Caldwell dishing out a team-high four assists.

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

Even though she did not figure in the scoring, senior Audrey Quilacio grabbed four rebounds with two of them coming at key junctures in the fourth quarter.

“I’m so happy that we’ll be able to play another game at home,” Quilacio said. “Even though shots weren’t falling early, we kept attacking as a team before they started falling helping us win a district title.”

Bartlett led Osage with a double double of 13 pounds and 14 rebounds.

Prior to the district title game, Owensville took on Southern Boone’s Lady Eagles last Wednesday night in the district semifinals at Eldon.

Opening the game on a 13-2 run started by a Caldwell 3-pointer and capped by a Binkhoelter 3-pointer, Owensville never trailed against the Lady Eagles before going on to a 38-22 victory.

Building up an 18-7 advantage after eight minutes, Caldwell led the orange and black with eight first-quarter points.

Seeing their lead trimmed to eight at 20-12 with 5:52 until halftime, another Binkhoelter 3-pointer bumped the Dutchgirl lead back into double digits with 4:54 for the first half.

Leading 26-16 at halftime, Caldwell led the Dutchgirl offense with 10 points while Chloe Bukowsky netted 11 of Southern Boone’s 16 first-half points.

Defense was the name of the game in the third quarter with Owensville edging the Lady Eagles 5-4 to take a 31-20 lead into the final eight minutes of district-semifinal basketball from Eldon.

Southern Boone got within single digits on a Bukowsky bucket with 5:35 to play before Owensville closed the game on a 7-0 run capped by two Quilacio free throws.

Caldwell led Owensville with a team-high 10 points to go along with three rebounds and two assists.

Emma Daniels posted an impressive stat line of nine points, nine rebounds, five steals and four assists.

Ali Daniels closely followed her cousin with eight points, seven rebounds, three assists and a steal.

Binkhoelter canned a pair of first-half 3-pointers for six points while Quilacio scored three of her five points from the free-throw line.