WARDSVILLE — A tall order.

That is what Cullen VanLeer’s Owensville Dutchmen faced literally and figuratively Thursday night in the semifinals of the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) Class 4, District 9 Boys Basketball Tournament semifinals at Blair Oaks High School.

Taking on the top-seeded and host Falcons, OHS quickly found themselves in a double-digit deficit.

Seeing Blair Oaks score the first 18 points of the game, Owensville simply could not overcome the large early deficit before falling to the Falcons 71-32 ending their season at 9-15 overall.

“That was a pretty good team we just played,” VanLeer said. “They didn’t take us lightly and brought it to us from the get go.”

Held scoreless for the first seven minutes of the game, the Dutchmen were finally able to get on the board on a Brendan Decker bucket with :53 for the opening quarter.

Adding in a Tyler Heidbrink basket in the closing seconds, Owensville ended the first quarter trailing Blair Oaks 20-4.

Outscored 26-8 in the second quarter, the Dutchmen went into halftime trailing the top-seeded Falcons 46-12.

Four different Dutchmen found the scoring column during the second quarter in Derek Brandt, Austin Lowder, Decker and Heidbrink.

Trailing 61-24 after three quarters, three more Dutchmen found their way into the scoring column.

Zaid Epstein and Charlie Whelan each hit a 3-pointer for three points while Bryce Payne added two points.

As time was ticking down on the end of Owensville’s season, a fitting event took place near the final minute.

Sidelined most of the season due to a knee injury, senior Macen Blankenship came off the bench to score OHS’ final point of the season on a free throw with 1:15 remaining from Wardsville.

In his final game as a Dutchmen basketball player, Heidbrink led Owensville with a team-high seven points. He also pulled down a team-high five rebounds along with adding a blocked shot.

Whelan followed closely with six points thanks to a pair of second-half 3-pointers.

 Decker added five points followed closely by four markers on free throws from Brandt.

Epstein chipped in three points to go along with two points each from Logan Evans, Payne and Lowder.

Luke Northweather led Blair Oaks with 27 points, 11 rebounds, seven blocked shots, four assists and three steals.

Blair Oaks went on to defeat St. James Saturday at Owensville High School for the district championship 61-29.

Advancing to sectional play, the Falcons hosted Buffalo last night (Tuesday) in Wardsville at Blair Oaks High School.