Opening 2022 last Wednesday with a split against Pacific’s Indians, Owensville Middle School (OMS) Dutchmen basketball teams coached by Taylor Payne and Shane Hunt went for Gasconade County bragging rights Monday night with Hermann’s Bearcats paying a visit to Owensville Elementary School.

Entering the seventh-grade game with an unblemished record of 7-0 thus far, Payne’s OMS squad looked to make it eight.

Playing the first quarter to a 12-12 deadlock, Owensville doubled up the Bearcats 10-5 in the second period to go into halftime with a 22-17 lead.

Outscoring Hermann 9-2 in the final six minutes, Payne’s Dutchmen went on to post a 35-24 victory running their record to 8-0 near the midway point of their season.

Netting eight points in the first half, Chase Crosby led Owensville with a team-high 10 points.

Brady Watson added eight points scoring six of those in the first half.

Wyatt Lewis scored five of his seven points in the second half to go along with a potential headache after taking drawing three charging fouls against the Bearcats.

Brody Slinkard scored four of his six points in the second quarter while Keigan Glaser rounded out the OMS scoring against Hermann with two points.

Kohlt Witthaus led the Bearcats and all scorers with a game-high 14 points.

He was followed with three points from Myles Stiers in addition to two points each from Nathan Menke and Ryker Ash.

Tayven Hopkins rounded out the scoring for Hermann with one point on a second-quarter free throw.

While Payne’s squad is now 8-0, Hunt’s eighth-grade Dutchmen came into their county showdown with Hermann looking to snap a five-game losing streak going back to their victory over Washington in the second game of the season.

Escaping the first quarter with a 10-7 lead, Owensville put a baker’s dozen on the board in the second quarter helping them to a 23-10 halftime lead.

Seeing Hermann cut their lead to seven at 29-22 after three quarters, the Dutchmen held on to the lead throughout the final six minutes of their 39-32 victory over the Bearcats completing a sweep of Gasconade County bragging rights in middle school boys basketball for another year.

Equaling Hermann’s first-quarter point total, Bryce Horstmann led the Dutchmen with seven points in the opening six minutes.

Getting points from five different Dutchmen in the second quarter, Ricky Marquez led OMS with four points closing the first half helping the orange and black to a double-digit halftime lead.

Leading a balanced OMS scoring attack, Chase Weirich poured in a team-high 11 points followed closely with nine points form Adam Wilson.

Marquez added four points in the fourth quarter giving him eight for the game.

In addition to Horstmann’s seven markers, Chris Allen and Logan Valley each chipped in two points for the Dutchmen.

Kruz Eldringhoff led the Bearcats and all scorers with a game-high 12 points.

Kegin Sperry added eight points for Hermann in Owensville.

OMS returns to action tomorrow night (Thursday on the road in Sullivan.