Just ask Hermann’s Bearcats when they took on Owensville’s Dutchmen for the championship of the Hermann Boys Basketball Tournament Saturday night.

Matt Herman looks for an open teammate against Hermann in the Hermann Tournament title game Saturday night.

Thanks to 19 second-half points out of senior Matt Jett, OHS went on to capture their second straight title at Hermann with a 47-30 win over the host Bearcats.

“We had guys really step up tonight and it was really fun to watch it come together,” Dutchmen basketball coach Josh Vinyard said. “

Hermann’s Phillip Wright drew first blood for the Bearcats with a bucket at the 7:02 mark of the first quarter. Senior Matt Herman answered about two minutes later with a 3-pointer to give OHS a 3-2 lead. Owensville held on to a 12-10 lead through one quarter.

Scoring was scarce in the second quarter with the Bearcats scoring four in a row to take a 14-12 lead with 4:23 remaining in the half.

Jett and Herman helped OHS along on an 8-0 to close the half and take a 20-14 lead at halftime.

Continuing to take over the game, Jett scored all eight Dutchmen markers in the third quarter to bump the OHS lead to nine at 28-19 with one quarter to play.

Hermann did not go away quietly as a Greg Wright 3-pointer cut the Owensville lead to six at 33-27 with 4:00 left in regulation.

Between Jett, Herman, Kyle Bauer and Connor Crosby, Owensville made 12-of-18 attempts from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter to pull away from the Bearcats in the final minutes of the game for their second title at Hermann.

Crosby also had to step up on the boards with senior Ross Blankenship out of action due to injuries sustained in a recent car accident.

“Ross had tough luck with his truck but we stepped up and got it done against Hermann,” Dutchmen senior Connor Crosby said. “We all played really well tonight against a solid Bearcat team.”

Leading all scorers with a game-high 27 points, Jett passed Nathan Harrison (1,092) for fifth all-time on the Dutchmen scoring list with 1,093 points on two free throws with 30.7 left.

“His teammates did a good job getting him chances to score,” Vinyard said. “This was our best offensive game as we were patient and executed tonight.”

Herman added eight first-half points while Crosby and Bauer each finished with six each.

 Playing the unsung hero was Dutchmen senior Jarret Keller who held Bearcat senior Jake Witthaus to just five points as Hermann could not find a rhythm on offense.

“If I had a game ball to give out, it would go to Jarret Keller,” Vinyard said. “His defense on (Jake) Witthaus) was an unbelievable effort.”

Keller knew that defense would be important against Hermann.

“Coach (Vinyard) asked me if I wanted the job (of guarding Jake Witthaus) and I said I would take it,” Dutchmen senior Jarret Keller said. “I went out there and played as hard as I could and ended up holding him to five points.”

Hermann head boys basketball coach Tim Wenkel could not be reached for comment by press time.

To get to the championship game, Josh Vinyard’s Dutchmen had to get by Wright City in the first round and St. James in the semi’s.

Playing perhaps their roughest game of the tournament, Owensville held off a pesky Wildcat team by a final of 43-37 last Tuesday to advance in the tournament.

Jett led the Dutchmen with a team-high 14 points while Crosby also reached double figures with 11.

Against St. James in the semifinals, OHS used a 12-4 run during the second and third quarters to push their lead into double digits and keep it their en route to a 52-33 victory over the Tigers.

Bauer led all scorers with a game-high 17 points as Jett and Herman added 13 points each to reach double digits.

Jett also passed Chris Collins (1,061) on the all-time career scoring list at OHS against the Tigers.

Action against Newburg from Monday night will be recapped in next weeks Republican.