Gasconade County Republican

Shawnee Wright tightropes the baseline during senior night action last Tuesday against St. Clair’s Bulldogs. Mother Nature’s latest dose of snow last week gave OHS basketball fans a varsity doubleheader against St. Clair’s Bulldogs on Valentine’s Day.

Looking to snap a four-game losing streak, Owensville’s Dutchgirls kicked off the varsity doubleheader against St. Clair.

Playing from behind throughout the second half, Owensville simply could not sustain a led down the stretch. The Lady Bulldogs spoiled senior night with an 88-81 road victory in double overtime.

In a first quarter featuring four ties and seven lead changes, Dutchgirl seniors Hannah Roach and Kati Davis combined for all 11 points. Both teams played the first eight minutes to an 11-11 stalemate.

Joining the senior scoring frenzy, Lauren Hendrickson opened the second-quarter scoring with a 3-pointer giving OHS a 14-11 lead with 6:30 left in the half.

That sparked a barrage of 3-point shots from St. Clair giving them at one point a lead of 28-20 with 3:36 remaining in the first half from Owensville High School.

With six of those St. Clair 3-pointers coming from senior Sarah Baker, the Lady Bulldogs took a 34-29 lead into halftime.

Davis paced the Dutchgirls with eight first-half points against St. Clair.

Tying the game at 34-34 on another Hendrickson 3-pointer, St. Clair closed the third quarter on a 9-5 run to take a 43-39 lead entering the final eight minutes of basketball for four OHS seniors at OHS.

Playing catch up throughout the fourth quarter, Owensville was finally able to tie the game at 55-55 on a Roach basket with 2:15 remaining in regulation. The Lady Bulldogs answered with four more points for a 59-55 lead with less than a minute remaining in the game.

Consecutive baskets by Roach and Davis tied the game at 59-59 and eventually sent the game into overtime.

Scoring Owensville’s first seven points in overtime, Davis helped OHS to their first lead of the game since the first quarter at 66-65 with 2:23 left in the extra session.

Unable to hit enough free throws down the stretch to put St. Clair away, the Dutchgirls saw Lady Bulldog senior Ashley Fuchs put back a missed shot as time expired to tie the game at 73-73 and send it to a second overtime.

Taking a 75-73 lead seconds into double overtime on a Mandie Robertson bucket, Owensville saw that lead vanish and the game with it as St. Clair escaped Gasconade County with an 88-81 victory.

“This was a tough loss for our seniors to go out on,” Dutchgirl head coach Dwayne Clingman said. “I want to thank them for their hard work and dedication to Dutchgirl basketball and we’ll continue to prepare for districts next week.”

Davis led four Dutchgirls in double figures with a team-high 22 points. She was followed in double digits by Roach with 17 markers, Hendrickson with 12 and Robertson with 10 points.

Baker led St. Clair and all scorers with a game-high 23 points for the Lady Bulldogs.

Looking for just their second win of the season, Josh Vinyard’s Dutchmen were looking to send their lone senior Shawnee Wright out on a winning note.

Runs of 12-0 and 11-1 throughout the game dashed those hopes as St. Clair recorded a sweep of the varsity twinbill with a 47-25 victory in the boys contest.

Tying the game at 2-2 on a Ben Angell basket with 6:40 left in the quarter, Owensville did not score again until another Angell bucket with a minute left in the quarter. St. Clair led the Dutchmen by a score of 8-4 after one quarter.

Opening the second stanza, both teams were ice cold on offense and Dutchmen junior Cole Farris hit a 3-pointer cutting the Bulldog lead to 8-7 with 4:44 left until halftime.

St. Clair’s offense woke up seconds later to the tune of a 12-2 run to close the first half and lead Owensville 20-9 at the intermission.

Over two minutes into the third quarter, baskets by Dalton Littrell and Shawnee Wright cut the Bulldog lead back into single digits by a score of 20-13 with 5:34 remaining in the third period.

Battling to keep the deficit in single digits, the visiting Bulldogs took a 32-19 lead into the fourth quarter against the host Dutchmen.

Held to six points in the fourth quarter, the Dutchmen ended the home portion of their schedule with a loss to St. Clair.

Wright led the Dutchmen with a team-high eight points and was followed by Littrell with seven.

Angell added four markers, Farris kicked in three, Tanner Goodman chipped in two points and Nathan Smith kicked in a free throw in the fourth quarter.