MOKANE - The top-seeded Owensville Dutchgirls pulled away by outscoring the No. 4 South Callaway Lady Bulldogs 38-21 in the second half of Wednesday night's 69-45 semifinal triumph at the South Callaway Invitational Tournament.
South Callaway (8-4) was down 15-8 after one quarter, but outscored Owensville 16-14 in the second quarter to pull within 29-24 at the break. The Dutchgirls, though, dominated the final 16 minutes, outscoring South Callaway 19-10 in the third quarter to open up a 48-34 advantage.
Owensville then sealed the decisive victory by outscoring the Lady Bulldogs 19-11 in the fourth quarter.
"We played right with them in the first half, but we came out a little slow on offense in the third quarter," South Callaway head coach Darren Humphrey said. "... We needed to get some shots to fall in the second half.
"We showcased our ability in a losing situation."
Sophomore forward Adrian Mann connected for 12 points as the only player to make it into double figures for the Lady Bulldogs. Junior forward Nicole Horstman and sophomore guard Kaci Jordan logged eight points apiece, while junior center Konnor Arrowood scored seven.
Breanna Diestelkamp erupted for a game-high 31 points to pace Owensville. Savannah Ellis was next with 14 points.
"They're a big, talented and aggressive team," Humphrey said of the Dutchgirls. "They'll be hard for anybody to handle."
South Callaway will square off against No. 3 seed New Bloomfield in the third-place game at 1 p.m. Saturday. The Lady Wildcats bowed to No. 2 seed Hermann 63-53 in the other semifinal Wednesday night.