Playing doubleheaders on consecutive nights last week, Owensville Elementary School (OES) hosted a junior-varsity doubleheader last Thursday night between the Dutchmen and Bearcats while Owensville High School (OHS) hosted a varsity twin bill between Hermann and Owensville inside a decorated OHS main gym last Friday night.

Seeing their Dutchgirl counterparts fall 38-27 against Hermann, Cullen VanLeer’s Dutchmen looked to split the twin bill with a victory over the visiting Bearcats from northern Gasconade County.

Navigating through a first-half of runs, Owensville took a 21-17 halftime before equaling their biggest lead of the game at six by a 28-22 score with 3:46 for the third quarter.

Trailing 33-32 entering the fourth quarter, Owensville led 46-44 on a Drew Chapman 3-pointer before Hermann ended the game on a 7-3 run dashing the Dutchmen hopes of a homecoming doubleheader split falling 51-49 to Hermann.

“This was one of those games that could have gone either way,” VanLeer said. “We had too many unforced turnovers and miscues that Hermann took advantage of to their credit.”

Down 7-6 with 2:12 for the opening quarter, Owensville ended the opening frame on a 7-0 run capped by a Wyatt Lewis buzzer beater giving them a 13-7 lead through eight minutes of basketball.

Tied at 13-13 with 5:40 until halftime, senior Chase Weirich dropped a couple of 3-balls pushing the Dutchmen lead back to six points at 19-13 before a Keigan Glaser bucket helped OHS to a 21-17 halftime lead.

Brady Watson led the orange and black with six first-half points and got hot in the third quarter scoring all 11 of Owensville’s points.

Answered by 13 third-quarter points from Hermann’s Myles Stiers, Owensville found themselves trailing 33-32 after three quarters on a Stiers 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer seconds after Watson scored.

Battling through eight lead changes in the fourth quarter, the last one came with 2:32 remaining when Stiers gave Hermann a 48-46 lead.

Weirich hit a 3-pointer with 1.5 left cutting the score to 51-49 but Owensville could not get a steal on the ensuring inbound play before seeing the Bearcats complete the sweep of varsity homecoming basketball action.

Having his streak of four consecutive double doubles snapped during a 64-40 loss to Hallsville last Wednesday night, Brady Watson started a new streak leading the Dutchmen against Hermann with a double double of 19 points, 10 rebounds and two steals.

Weirich hit a trio of 3-point shots giving him nine points followed closely by Chase Crosby and Chapman with eight points apiece.

Keigan Glaser added three points while Lewis rounded out the Dutchmen scoring with his aforementioned first-quarter buzzer beater.

Stiers led the Bearcats with 32 points and nine rebounds while Kohlt Witthaus added a double double of 14 points and 15 rebounds.

Opening the homecoming-night doubleheader, Matt Kramme’s Owensville Dutchgirls turned an early 5-0 deficit into a 6-5 first-quarter lead before Hermann’s Kealie Lane beat the first-quarter buzzer for a 7-6 lead.

Seeing Hermann end the first half on a 14-3 run, Owensville could not overcome the deficit before end up on the wrong side of a 38-27 final score in spite of outscoring Hermann 13-8 in the third quarter.

Abbey Quilacio led the Dutchgirls with 10 points, three rebounds and two assists while Lainey Moss added six points, five rebounds and five steals.

Cylee Reed chipped in five points and five rebounds followed closely by Cameron Ryerson and Piper Koelling with three points apiece.

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

During JV hoops action at OES the previous night, Owensville came away with a pair of victories taking the girls contest 14-11 in two quarters while Scott Lewis’ JV Dutchmen emerged on top 23-19 in a full game over Hermann’s JV Bearcats.

Tied at 4-4 with 1:32 for the first quarter of JV girls action, Cambell Schulte hit a 3-pointer with :46 ticks helping the JV Dutchgirls to a 7-6 halftime lead.

Leading 11-8 on a Kylie Barnes basket with 3:50 remaining, Hermann’s Lucy Theissen scored an old-fashioned 3-point play to knot the game back up at 11-11 with 42.4 remaining.

Myla Lauth broke the tie for the Dutchgirls with a 3-pointer giving the Dutchgirls their final margin of victory with :12 remaining.

Schulte led the JV Dutchgirls with seven points to go along with three points and four rebounds from Lauth.

Ryan Miller and Barnes each added two points for the JV Dutchgirls.

Barnes also pulled down a team-high five rebounds for the orange and black.

Remi Groner paced Hermann’s JV Lady Bearcats with six points.

Owensville’s Dutchgirls will host New Haven’s Lady Shamrocks tomorrow (Thursday) night while their Dutchmen counterparts will host the Shamrocks on Friday, Feb. 13 with action starting both nights at 5:30 p.m.