Suffering a 46-31 road set back last Tuesday night in Osage County against Linn’s Wildcats along Highway 50, Drew Lansford’s Hermann Bearcats looked to end last week on a winning note Friday night hosting California’s Pintos inside the Hermann High School main gymnasium.

Down 55-39 with 4:00 remaining, the Bearcat trio of Aiden Eikermann, Kruz Eldringhoff and Ryker Ash combined to score 16 of the next 17 points in the game trimming the Pinto lead to one at 56-55 with eight ticks left on an Ash 3-pointer.

Now trailing 57-55 with 3.9 left, Ash’s half-court shot was off the mark leaving Hermann’s valiant comeback bid two points short.

“Our guys kept playing hard and never quit,” Lansford said. “We could’ve easily conceded the game but we just kept fighting until the final buzzer.”

Trailing briefly at 2-0 and 4-3 early in the first quarter, Ash hit a 3-pointer with 6:00 for the first quarter giving the Bearcats a 6-4 lead before entering the second quarter with a 17-11 advantage behind six points apiece from Eldringhoff and Ash.

Owning a 19-11 lead with 7:00 until halftime, Hermann went cold on offense allowing California to go on a 12-0 run leaving the Bearcats trailing 23-19 at the 3:12 mark of the second quarter.

Five points from Tayven Hopkins in the final 1:58 of the first half helped Hermann go into halftime only trailing by a single point at 25-24 against the visiting Pintos.

Ash paced the Bearcats with eight first-half points while Aiden Fitzwater led California and all scorers with 10 first-half markers.

Third-quarter action saw the Pintos go on runs of 7-0 and 12-0 leaving Hermann trailing by as much as 15 points at 46-31 with 1:48 for the third period.

Four points from Eikermann over the final 1:21 of the quarter pulled the Bearcats back within 11 of California by a score of 46-35 entering the fourth quarter.

Trading points with the Pintos for the first half of the fourth quarter, an Eldringhoff 3-pointer with 3:05 remaining sparked Hermann’s 16-1 run that nearly capped a herculean comeback.

Sharing game-high scoring honors with Fitzwater, Ash led three Bearcats in double figures with 19 points and six rebounds while Eikermann added a double double of 16 points, 10 rebounds and three steals.

Eldringhoff rounded out Hermann’s double-digit scoring trio with 15 points and six steals.

Hopkins scored all five of his points in the second quarter and added six rebounds to his stat line.

Eli Porter joined Fitzwater in double figures with 10 points for the Pintos.

Limited to five first-half points, Hermann JV Bearcats suffered a 46-15 setback at the hands of the visitors from California.

Ashton Rucker paced the blue and white with seven points, four rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot.

Sawyer Moore added five points and a team-high seven rebounds.

EJ Lindahl hit a fourth-quarter bucket for two points while Trevin Hale hit a fourth-quarter free throw for one point capping the scoring for Hermann’s JV Bearcats.

Hermann ended the 2025 portion of their season on the road last night (Tuesday) on the road in Ashland against Southern Boone’s Eagles.