Turning back St. James 51-45 in last Wednesday’s semifinals of the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) Class 4, District 3 Boys Basketball Tournament at Owensville High School (OHS), Cullen VanLeer’s Owensville Dutchmen earned a shot at their first district championship in 29 years Friday night against Salem’s Tigers.

Trailing 31-30 entering the fourth quarter, Owensville opened the period on an 8-0 run sparked by a Zaiden Gates bucket and ended on a Brady Watson basket at the 3:30 mark of the fourth quarter.

In spite of being outscored 11-4 the rest of the game, three Chase Crosby free throws and a Keigan Glaser freebie helped the orange and black end a nearly three-decade district title drought following their 42-41 victory over upset-hungry Salem.

“They did all the work,” VanLeer said. “I’m super proud of all my guys. They executed the game plan almost to a T.”

From the opening tip, it looked like Owensville was going to turn the game into a blowout.

Chase Crosby started the scoring with a pair of free throws at the 7:10 mark of the opening quarter before a Gates free throw and a Jansen Loeb 3-pointer made it a 6-0 Dutchmen lead at the midway point of the first quarter.

“It was fun as always getting to go out there and play,” Loeb said. “The last time we played Salem at their place, I did not have a good shooting night. It was good to come out on top tonight and come through for my boys.”

Buckets by Gates and Loeb helped the Dutchmen to a 10-3 lead after one quarter.

An Eli Graham 3-point play and another Crosby bucket pushed the Owensville lead to 15-3 with 7:10 until halftime.

“I’m at a loss for words,” Graham said.

Salem answered with a 7-0 run trimming the OHS lead to 15-10 with 5:12 for the second quarter.

Both teams then traded points the rest of the first half leaving the host Dutchmen with a 25-18 halftime lead.

Crosby led the Dutchmen with 10 first-half points while Gavin Sapaugh led Salem and all scorers with 11 first-half markers

Owensville went scoreless for nearly the first four minutes of the third quarter before a Crosby bucket put the orange and black in front 27-20 with 4:46 for the period.

Three Salem free throws from Sapaugh then sparked an 11-3 Tiger run putting the visiting Tigers in front 31-30 with one quarter to play.

Last scoring midway through the second quarter, Gates put OHS back in front on a bucket from Crosby at the 7:20 mark of the fourth quarter.

“They battled through adversity and were resilient,” VanLeer said. “The third quarter was a tough ending. I was able to use the extra time to calm the guys down while those three free throws were being shot.”

“It feels good,” Gates said. “My first varsity game was against Salem and it was only fitting that we beat them to win our first district title in a long time.”

Three more buckets from Eli Graham, Crosby and Watson gave the Dutchmen a 7-point lead with 3:30 remaining.

Answering with an 8-3 run, Salem closed the gap to two points at 41-39 with 26.3 ticks remaining on a Sapaugh 3-point play.

Almost two seconds later, Crosby scored Owensville’s final point on a free throw helping them end their 29-year district title drought dating back to 1996.

“It’s amazing. We’ve worked so hard for this with every practice since sixth grade,” Crosby said. “We did it for the seniors as it could have been their last time on this court.”

Salem entered the game going for their first district title since 2005 and will have a legitimate shot at ending that drought next season with only three graduating seniors on their roster this year.

“Owensville had a heck of a game. They had a really good game plan,” Salem head coach Jared Patterson said. “They did a really good job hitting shots and their defense is just intense and in your face.”

Crosby led the Dutchmen and with 17 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Loeb added eight points to go along with seven points apiece from Eli Graham and Gates.

Watson added two points while Glaser scored his lone point of the game on a fourth-quarter free throw with 36.1 remaining.

“I’m just really excited to enjoy this with a bunch of friends who play the sport with me,” Glaser said. “We just kept fighting until we had the game won.”

Sapaugh led the Tigers with 19 points, nine rebounds and two steals.

Dutchmen vs. St. James

Earning a bye to the semifinals of the MSHSAA Class 4, District 3 Boys Basketball Tournament on their home court, VanLeer’s Dutchmen hosted St. James’ Tigers last Wednesday night in their district opener.

Edging the Tigers 46-42 during regular-season play, VanLeer’s Dutchmen knew St. James would be hungry for revenge.

Leading 32-23 at the 2:50 mark of the third quarter on a Glaser basket, Owensville saw St. James end the quarter on an 8-3 run trimming their lead to 35-31 after three quarters.

Thanks to a pair of 5-0 runs throughout the fourth quarter, Owensville was able to turn back St. James 51-45 to punch their ticket into the district championship game.

Gates showed the way for the Dutchmen with a game-high double double of 14 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.

“Those two guys (Gates and Eli Graham) along with Brandon (Graham) this last back stretch of the season have just been absolutely awesome down low as far as rebounding and finishing so much better,” VanLeer said.

Crosby also scored in double figures with 12 points and two steals.

Eli Graham posted a solid stat line of nine points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Brandon Graham also added six points, three rebounds and two blocked shots for the orange and black.

Watson chipped in four points, five assists and four rebounds to go along with three points each out of Loeb and Glaser.

Glaser also added five rebounds and two assists to his three points.

Scoring five of Owensville’s first seven points, Eli Graham helped the Dutchmen to a 7-5 lead after one quarter of district semifinal basketball against visiting St. James.

Seeing St. James tie the game at 7-7, Gates and Eli Graham scored OHS’ next eight points giving them a 15-9 lead with 5:00 until  halftime.

Crosby and Gates then combined to score Owensville’s 11 remaining first-half points helping them double up St. James 26-13 at the halftime break.

Eli Graham led the Dutchmen with nine first-half points while Nick Gleason paced St. James with four first-half points.

Ahead 35-25 on a Crosby 3-pointer with 1:22 for the third quarter, St. James scored six unanswered points to cut Owensville’s lead to 35-31 entering the fourth quarter.

Getting points from six different Dutchmen in the final eight minutes, OHS survived a barrage of Tiger 3-pointers down the stretch.

Gleason led St. James with 13 points and three rebounds while Tate Gruver also reached double figures with 11 points for the Tigers.

JV Meurer also added nine points and a team-high six rebounds for St. James.