For the first time since 2016, there will be eight teams competing in the annual Owensville Varsity Boys Basketball Tournament.

Beginning tonight (Wednesday), St. Clair’s Bulldogs and School of the Osage Indians’ will mark their debuts during the 30th annual event going on the next four nights at Owensville High School.

Tipping the tournament off today (Wednesday) at 4:30 p.m., will be a pair of Gasconade Valley Conference (GVC) teams in the top-seeded Steelville Cardinals and the eighth-seeded Cuba Wildcats.

John Tolly’s Steelville squad will look to defend their tournament championship from last year marking their first title in Owensville since 2005 and the Dr. Kurt Keller era of Cardinal basketball.

Entering 2019 with a record of 6-2, SHS will be led by the senior trio of Malachi Gray, Garrett Marshall and Trent Bass playing in their final Owensville Tournament.

Additional upperclassmen for Steelville include the junior quintet of Rylee Mabe, Tanner Diaz, Dakota Warden, Josh Earney and Kadin Norris.

Coached by Brett Joseph, Cuba’s Wildcats come into 2019 still searching for their notch in the win column of the season.

Seniors looking to help Cuba to victory in the new year include Gavin Sparks, Jonathan Bayless, Conor Workman, Alex Noltkamper and Austin Shockley.

Juniors suiting up for the Wildcats include Logan Ray, Luke Elrod, Al Palmer and Simon Siebert.

Cuba currently has losses to tournament foes in Salem and the host Dutchmen.

Also on the top half of the bracket, fourth-seed and tournament newcomer St. Clair will face fifth-seeded Salem.

Both teams have already faced each other this season with Salem’s Tigers edging the Bulldogs 49-48 in the consolation championship game of the FCNB Bank-It Tournament at Sullivan High School.

St. Clair will have five seniors playing in their first and last Owensville Tournament.

They include Kamalei Bursey, Timmy Hoffman, Pepper Stark, Tyler Stark and Michael Hughes.

Currently sitting at 4-6, the Bulldogs are led in scoring by junior Calvin Henry averaging 16.1 points per contest.

Hughes is St. Clair’s chairman of the boards pulling down a team-high 7.2 rebounds per game.

Henry also dishes out a team-high 3.2 assists per game.

Game three will be a Highway 89 cat fight between the second-seeded Linn Wildcats and seventh-seeded Belle Tigers.

Fresh off a 51-36 loss to Eugene in the third-place game of the 57th Annual Linn Invitational Basketball Tournament, Clay Crouch’s Wildcats will look to add to their earlier victory on OHS’ home floor during the tournament.

Voss and Peters will be common last names when watching the Wildcats this week.

Brothers Logan and Kole Peters will both be playing in their last Owensville Tournament while distant cousins Drew and Jackson Voss will be among five juniors suiting up for Crouch’s cats.

Kyle May joined the Peters’ brothers rounding Linn’s contingency of senior basketball players.

Parker Patterson, Nathaniel Morre and Alex Grellner join the Voss cousins as juniors on the squad.

Entering 2019 with a 5-7 overall record, Linn’s lone victory against a tournament opponent came against the host Dutchmen after a 59-47 victory back in early December.

Wins for Linn have also come against Eldon, Tuscumbia, Missouri Military Academy and Fatima.

Making the short trek east on Highway 28, Tim Evan’s Tigers will get their first of two shots at the Wildcats in the span of six days as the two teams will also face off again on Tuesday, Jan. 8 in Belle.

Half-a-dozen seniors will play in their final Owensville Tournament for the Tigers including Jesse Bogle, Brett Butler, Mason Butler, Levi Fortner, Quinton Martin and Daniel Bolte.

Seven junior basketball players following Belle’s seniors include Carter Dunn, Colten Robinson, Eddy Paz, Brett Stewart, Jat Ridenhour, and Peyton Moran.

Coming into 2019 at 2-4, Belle has not played anyone in the Owensville Tournament field. Their wins have come against Crocker and Russellville with losses coming to New Haven, Chamois, New Bloomfield and Hermann.

In the fourth and final game of the opening-round quadrupleheader, the third-seeded and host Dutchmen will take on the School of the Osage Indians coming over from the lake area.

Todd Rehmert’s Dutchmen will be led by the senior quartet of Seth Mayberry, Jay Copeland, Brady Smith and Jacob Barch.

Five juniors that will play a big role in keeping the Dutchmen on the winner’s side of the bracket include Cason Gray, Daxton Mehrhoff, Justin Garner, Trevor Abernathy and Boyde Nicks.

Sophomores that could also play key roles for OHS include Zaid Epstein, Tyler Heidbrink, Austin Terry and Ethan Basham.

Opening their season with a 1-2 showing during the St. Francis Borgia Turkey Tournament, Rehmert’s Dutchmen went 3-3 the rest of 2018 with wins over Missouri Military Academy, Cuba and Newburg.

Losses have come at the hands of Linn, St. Clair and Fulton.

Coached by Aaron Shockley, Osage opened their season losing their first four games before landing in the win column with a 57-55 victory over Richland’s Bears.

Falling 72-54 at Camdenton in mid-December, the Indians will begin play in the Owensville Tournament with a 1-6 overall record.

Bringing a wealth of experience into the first-ever tournament appearance, Osage has nine seniors on their roster.

Indians playing in their first and last Owensville Tournament include Ross Brady, Aaron Evans, Dalton Dupee, Garrett Sutherland, Traygen White, Trey Rassenfoss, Parker Jett, Robert Custer and Ryan Moore.