OWENSVILLE — Swept in a junior-varsity basketball doubleheader last Thursday night at Owensville Elementary School (OES), Hermann’s Lady Bearcat and Bearcat varsity basketball teams looked to return the favor the next night during Owensville High School’s annual winter homecoming festivities.

Taking the girls contest 38-27, Drew Lansford’s Bearcats looked to complete the sweep against a very tough Owensville Dutchmen squad on their home floor.

Easily compared to the Rumble in the Jungle bout between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali, Owensville’s Brady Watson and Hermann’s Myles Stiers traded blows throughout Gasconade County basketball action.

In the end, it was Stiers and the Bearcats behind his game-high 32 points who would come out on top by a final score of 51-49.

“Myles had a heck of a game and put us on his back in the second half,” Lansford said. “Everyone on the floor also contributed helping Stiers have his best game of the season since coming back from a leg injury during football season.”

First-quarter action saw Owensville take a 6-2 lead with Watson scoring four of Owensville’s first six points before Hermann answered with a 5-0 run for a 7-6 advantage on a Tayven Hopkins bucket at the 2:12 mark of the opening quarter.

Lansford’s Bearcats saw Cullen VanLeer’s Dutchmen end the first eight minutes on a 7-0 spurt of their own putting Hermann in a 13-7 deficit.

Opening the second quarter on a 6-0 run, the Bearcats tied the game at 13-13 on a pair of Kohlt Witthaus free throw and four points from Stiers.

Outscored 8-4 the rest of the first half, Hermann went into halftime trailing the host Dutchmen 21-17.

Stiers led the Bearcats with eight first-half points while Watson had six first-half markers to pace the Dutchmen.

Trailing 28-22 with 3:46 for the third quarter, Hermann went on a 7-0 run with five of those points coming from Stiers helping the Bearcats grab a 29-28 lead at the 1:31 mark.

Tied at 30-30 with 19.2 remaining, Watson scored with five ticks left giving Owensville a 32-30 lead before Stiers went down and beat the third-quarter buzzer with a 3-pointer putting the Bearcats in front 33-32 entering the fourth quarter.

Surviving eight lead changes and one tie, Hermann was able to escape Owensville with a 51-49 victory on a pair of Witthaus free throws with 6.5 ticks remaining.

Stiers nearly finished with a double double adding nine rebounds to his game-high 32 points.

Witthaus added a double double with 14 points and 15 rebounds for the Bearcats while Hopkins rounded out the Hermann scoring at Owensville with five points.

Kruz Eldringhoff recorded three steals in the fourth quarter helping Hermann’s defense keep the blue and white in the game.

Watson led Owensville with his fifth double double in six games finishing with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

Trent Anderson’s JV Bearcats led 9-8 in the second quarter of their game last Thursday night against the JV Dutchmen before allowing an 11-2 run that they couldn’t quite recover from before falling 23-19.

Layne Bader led Hermann with six points and four rebounds to go along with five points from Roman Martin.

Corbin Sadler added three points and eight rebounds followed closely with two points apiece from Kyle Koch and Gavyn Theissen.

Sawyer Moore capped the Hermann scoring with one point while also grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds.

Last Tuesday night against Sullivan’s Eagles, Hermann’s JV Bearcats saw an 11-7 lead after one quarter turn into a 42-28 setback while Lansford’s Bearcats overcame a 13-10 deficit after one quarter before posting a 57-50 victory in FRC play.

Stiers led the Bearcats against Sullivan netting 17 of his game-high 26 points in the second half.

Witthaus also reached double figures with 11 points against the Eagles.

Moore led the JV Bearcats with eight points against Sullivan.

Lady Bearcats at Owensville

Trailing 6-5 late in the first quarter of their annual Gasconade County hardwood showdown against Owensville’s Dutchgirls, Ashley Aaron’s Hermann Lady Bearcats ended the first half on a 16-3 run giving them a 21-9 halftime lead during homecoming festivities at Owensville High School.

Able to withstand a 9-3 Dutchgirl run in the third quarter trimming their lead to six points at 26-20, Hermann went on to post a 38-27 victory over the host Dutchgirls in varsity girl’s action at OHS.

“Our girls were able to go on a run after briefly trailing in the first quarter and it helped us overcome some first-half mistakes,” Aaron said. “We were able to survive a third-quarter run by Owensville to help us stay undefeated in (Four Rivers) conference play.”

During Hermann’s 14-3 second-quarter run, the Lady Bearcats got points from five different Lady Bearcats which included Kimber Hale, Kealie Lane, Kalli Landolt, Brynlee Ash and Carlie Walkenbach.

In spite of being outscored 13-8 in the third quarter, Hermann came back to win the fourth quarter 9-5 helping them improve to 3-0 in FRC play.

Lane led Hermann with a double double of 10 points, 10 rebounds and five steals.

Hale added eight points with five of those coming in the fourth quarter.

Andrea Van Booven and Ash both chipped in six points to go along with three points apiece from Landolt and Walkenbach.

Madyson Yates rounded out the Lady Bearcat scoring with two points on a second-quarter bucket.

Abbey Quilacio led Owensville with 10 points and three rebounds.

Last Thursday night in junior-varsity action, Hermann led 8-7 in the second half before being outscored 7-3 the rest of their 14-11 loss to Owensville in two quarters at OES.

Remi Groner paced Hermann with six points followed closely with five points from Lucy Theissen.

Grace Engemann also added two rebounds and two steals for Hermann.

Last Monday night at home against Sullivan, Hermann’s JV Lady Bearcats dropped a 56-23 decision behind 10 points from Groner while Aaron’s varsity Lady Bearcats posted a 51-33 victory over the visiting Lady Eagles behind 13 points and eight rebounds from Landolt.

Andrea Van Booven also finished in double figures against Sullivan with 12 points and six rebounds.