HERMANN — Opening 2023 last Wednesday with a doubleheader split on the road at Pacific, Owensville Middle School (OMS) Dutchmen basketball teams coached by Jarret Payne and Shane Hunt ventured north on Highway 19 to Hermann looking for Gasconade County hardwood bragging rights against the host Bearcats.

Playing the eighth-grade game first due to low numbers on the seventh-grade side for Hermann, Hunt’s Dutchmen looked to keep their hopes of a perfect season alive with a win in northern Gasconade County.

Trailing 2-0 in the opening seconds, Owensville ended the first quarter on a 14-3 run to take a 14-5 lead after six minutes of basketball.

Playing the second quarter to a 6-6 draw, the orange and black took a 20-11 lead into halftime.

Outscoring Hermann 23-3 in the second half, Owensville ran their record to 10-0 on the season following a 43-14 victory in eighth-grade action.

Chase Crosby just missed a double double finishing with 14 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals for the Dutchmen.

Watson made it two Dutchmen in double figures with 12 points, three rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocked shots.

Brody Slinkard added six points followed by four markers from Bryce Kramme and a fourth-quarter 3-pointer from Keigan Glaser.

Koen Brooks and Broden Kelley rounded out the Dutchmen scoring against Hermann with two points apiece.

Ryker Ash led the Bearcats with seven points and five rebounds.

Scoring two points each were the Hermann trio of Myles Stiers, Kobe Grannemann and Kohlt Witthaus.

Witthaus also pulled down five rebounds and blocked a pair of shots.

Tayven Hopkins rounded out the Hermann scoring in eighth-grade action with a fourth-quarter free throw after he was fouled in the act of shooting at the buzzer.

Scheduled for only two quarters, seventh-grade action between the Dutchmen and Bearcats needed an additional two minutes of basketball to decide a winner.

After Gabe Medlock tied the game with a basket in the closing seconds of regulation on an assist from Brogan Clancy, both Dutchmen each scored a basket in overtime of Owensville’s 12-8 victory over the host Bearcats in seventh-grade action.

Scoreless for over three minutes of the first quarter, Hermann’s Carson Strube banked in a 3-ball giving the Bearcats a 3-0 halftime lead.

Jax Johnston and Andrew Budnik scored within a minute of each other helping the Dutchmen to a 4-3 lead with 3:27 left in regulation.

Nathan Menke gave Hermann a 5-4 lead with 2:44 left before Medlock scored seconds later for a 6-5 Dutchmen lead at the 2:22 mark of the second quarter.

Three Menke free throws put the Bearcats on top 8-6 before Medlock sent the game into overtime.

Scoring a game-high six points, Medlock also led the Dutchmen with nine rebounds.

Menke led Hermann in seventh-grade action with five points and four rebounds.

Colin Nunnally pulled down a game-high eight rebounds for the Bearcats while Strube added a team-high two steals in addition to his first-quarter 3-pointer for Hermann.

OMS will return to action tomorrow (Thursday) hosting Sullivan at 4:30 p.m., at OES.