Highlighted by a 46-45 double-overtime victory over Fatima in the consolation semifinals of the Montgomery County Invitational Boys Basketball Tournament, Drew Lansford’s Hermann Bearcats ended the 2025 portion of their season with a 4-4 record.

In addition to the victory against Fatima, Hermann posted notches in the win column over Chamois, Wright City and Clopton.

Their four losses came to Fulton, Linn, California and Southern Boone.

Entering 2026 on a three-game losing streak, Hermann should get Myles Stiers and Zach Fredrick back from leg injuries sustained towards the end of football season in addition to another leg injury from Kohlt Witthaus in early December.

“We were clawing and scratching just to get to the holiday break to get everyone including our injured guys healthy and ready to go for 2026,” Lansford said.

Seeing action in five games, Witthaus led three Bearcats in double figures averaging 11.8 points per game while Ryker Ash was close behind with 11.6 points a night and Kruz Eldringhoff just under 11 points and 10.9 markers per contest.

Witthaus also led the way for the Bearcats with 8.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game.

Layne Bader also saw limited action in 2025 with seven assists in two games.

January will see quite a bit of road basketball for Lansford’s Bearcats beginning Friday night with a short but windy road trip up Highway 94 into Callaway County to face South Callaway’s Bulldogs with a 6 p.m., tip time for JV action.

Hermann’s three-game road swing to open 2026 will continue on Monday, Jan. 5 at Washington before moving further southeast into Franklin County on Thursday, Jan. 8 for a Four Rivers Conference (FRC) road showdown with St. Clair’s Bulldogs.

Junior-varsity action both of those nights will also tip at 5:30 p.m.

Hermann’s 2026 home debut will be a Highway 19 cat fight against Cuba’s Wildcats on Friday, Jan. 9 with a 5:30 p.m., start time for the JV contest.

Mid-January will mark a return trip to Mokane for the South Callaway Boys Basketball Tournament from Jan. 12-17 before the Bearcats venture into Festus for a Monday, Jan. 19 road test against the St. Pius X (Festus) Lancers.

Hosting St. Francis Borgia’s Knights on Friday, Jan. 23, Lansford’s Bearcats will host the Hermann Invitational Boys Basketball Tournament inside both the Hermann Middle School (HMS) and Hermann High School (HHS) gyms from Jan. 26-31.