Defeating St. Clair and Father Tolton earlier in the week, Ryan Flanagan’s Owensville varsity Dutchgirls looked to make it three wins for the week Friday night taking on Linn’s Lady Wildcats for senior night at Owensville High School.

Leading 48-45 on a Keira Hendrix 3-pointer with 2:50 left, the Dutchgirls were not able to hold on.

Linn ended the game on a 12-3 run handing the Dutchgirls a 57-51 loss.

First-quarter action looked like Owensville was going to have a happy senior night for Dutchgirl seniors Katelyn Landolt, Kate Angell and Anna Skornia.

Racing out to an 8-2 lead at the 4:47 mark of the opening quarter, Anna Finley accounted for six of those eight points while Skornia scored the other two.

Linn answered with a 9-2 run of their own to take an 11-10 lead on a Aushara Hostetler basket.

Already with six first-quarter points, Finley added five to that total with a 3-pointer and two free throws for a 15-13 Dutchgirl lead after one quarter.

Trailing briefly 16-15 with 7:05 until halftime, Dutchgirl junior Kyla Hendrix drained a 3-pointer giving OHS the lead back at 18-16.

From there, Finley scored Owensville’s next 13 points helping them to a 31-22 lead with 1:42 for the second quarter.

Seconds later, Finley picked up her third foul at the 1:23 mark.

An Angell free throw and an Emma Daniels basket in the final minute helped OHS to a 34-26 halftime lead.

Ending the first half with 24 points, Finley was on pace to top her 35-point effort from earlier in the week on the road at St. Clair.

Those aspirations quickly went away when she was whistled for her fourth foul at the 5:42 mark of the third quarter.

In spite of her absence, Daniels stepped up with a 3-pointer for Owensville’s lone points of the third quarter keeping the Dutchgirls ahead of Linn 37-32 with eight minutes of basketball remaining.

Hitting two free throws with 4:47 left giving Owensville a 41-35 lead, Finley fouled out seconds later with 4:31 left.

Unable to match baskets with Linn in the final 1:42, Flanagan’s Dutchgirls dropped a tough 57-51 senior-night decision to the visiting Lady Wildcats.

Finley led all scorers with a game-high 26 points followed in double figures by Daniels with 12.

Keira Hendrix scored all five of her points in the fourth quarter while her sister Kyla Hendrix added three points.

Landolt and Skornia both added two points while Angell rounded out the Dutchgirl scoring on senior night with a second-quarter free throw for one point.

Hostetler led Linn with a team-high 25 points. Claire Baker also reached double figures for Linn with 15 points.

Having to withdraw from this week’s Peoples Bank Holiday Classic this week due to a close exposure to COVID-19, Owensville varsity Dutchgirl basketball will return to action after the holiday break in 2021.

Once winter sports seniors were recognized, it was time for Cullen VanLeer’s varsity Dutchmen basketball squad to take the court against Linn’s Wildcats in the night cap of Friday’s doubleheader.

Leading by as much as nine points in the third quarter, Owensville’s first win under VanLeer was within their grasp.

However, Linn outscored the Dutchmen 27-19 in the fourth quarter to spoil OHS’ senior-night hoops doubleheader with a 77-72 victory in the varsity game.

“Our guys played hard tonight and I’m proud of their efforts,” VanLeer said.

Down 7-2 midway through the first quarter, Owensville went on an 8-2 run taking a 10-9 lead on a Brendan Decker 3-pointer at the 2:33 mark of the opening quarter.

Linn answered with a 6-2 run to take a 15-12 lead into the second quarter.

Trading baskets the majority of the second quarter, OHS closed the gap to two points at 26-24 on a Derek Brandt 3-pointer at the 2:28 mark of the period.

Going on a 10-2 run, Linn pushed their lead to 35-26 with 42.3 until halftime.

In the closing seconds of the half, Macen Blankenship hit a 3-pointer leaving the Dutchmen trailing 35-29 at halftime.

Opening the third quarter on a 15-1 run, OHS suddenly found themselves with a 44-36 lead with 4:35 for the quarter.

Linn fought back before eventually overtaking the Dutchmen in the fourth quarter.

Decker led OHS with 27 points while Linn was paced with 30 points from Alec Peters and 25 points from Caleb Maassen.