Losing their two scheduled games in November due to COVID-19, Owensville Middle School (OMS) Dutchmen basketball teams coached by Shane Hunt and Taylor Payne finally got to open their season last Tuesday at home against Steelville’s Cardinals.

Trailing 16-8 at halftime, Owensville’s 7th grade Dutchmen could not overcome a 26-3 third-quarter run by Steelville before falling to the Cardinals 49-16.

Falling behind 7-0 in the opening stages of the first quarter of 7th grade action, Owensville got on the board with a Chase Weirich bucket at the 3:40 mark of the first quarter.

A minute later, a Chris Allen 3-pointer left OMS trailing Steelville 8-5 at the 2:38 mark of the opening quarter.

From there, Steelville ended the quarter on a 5-0 run for a 13-5 lead after six minutes.

Scoring was scarce in the second quarter with both teams putting up three points each.

A Weirich basket and an Allen free throw helped the Dutchmen go into halftime trailing Steelville 16-8.

Seeing Steelville score the first 10 points of the third quarter, Owensville stopped the run with a Weirich free throw at the 3:18 mark of the third.

Adam Wilson also scored two points for OMS in the third quarter leaving the Dutchmen trailing the Cardinals 42-11 with one quarter to play.

In the fourth quarter, Owensville got two points each from Ricky Marquez and Weirich in addition to a Wilson free throw.

Weirich led the 7th grade Dutchmen with seven points followed by four points from Allen.

Wilson (3) and Marquez (2) scored their points in the second half.

Weirich pulled down nine rebounds while Marquez added nine rebounds and three blocked shots to his two points.

Bryce Hortsmann recorded a team-high four steals for OMS.

Eighth-grade action between Owensville and Steelville provided plenty of action in a closely contested game.

Leading 40-38 with 2:50 left on an Eli Graham basket, the 8th grade Dutchmen saw Steelville score the final four points of the game handing them a tough 42-40 loss.

Featuring three ties and four lead changes, both teams played the first quarter to a 7-7 tie.

Eli Graham had four of Owensville’s points while Connor Fischer (2) and Noah Caldwell (1) also found the scoring column in the first quarter for the Dutchmen.

Trailing 14-9 with 4:30 until halftime, Owensville went on a 7-0 run sparked by five points from Caldwell and a Brandon Graham basket giving OMS a 16-14 lead with 2:25 for the second quarter.

Steelville answered with a 7-0 run closing the first half taking a 21-16 lead into halftime.

Caldwell and Eli Graham led Owensville with six points each in the first half.

Down seven in the opening seconds of the third quarter, Payne’s Dutchmen rattled off another 7-0 run capped by a Nick Abel 3-pointer tying the game at 23-23 with 3:40 for the third quarter.

Two ties and three lead changes later, the third quarter ended with both teams tied at 29-29.

Leading the majority of the fourth quarter, Owensville could not overcome a 2:50 scoring drought before falling to Steelville.

Eli Graham finished with a game-high 13 points for OMS followed closely by Caldwell with 12 points.

Ethan Ditto only scored two points but pulled down a game-high nine rebounds for the Dutchmen.