Turning back St. Clair 45-36 in Hermann Invitational Boys Basketball Tournament first-round action last Wednesday night, Drew Lansford’s Hermann Bearcats then dropped a 52-48 setback against Belle’s Tigers the next night sending them to Saturday’s third-place game against Warrenton’s Warriors.

Down 13-11 after one quarter, Hermann outscored the Warriors 13-8 in the second quarter giving them a 24-21 halftime lead.

Seeing their advantage trimmed down to two by a score of 41-39 after three quarters, Hermann nearly doubled up Warrenton 14-8 during the final eight minutes of their 55-47 victory giving them third-place hardware.

Kohlt Witthaus led the Bearcats by calling blackjack finishing with 21 points followed closely in double figures by Myles Stiers with 19 points.

Tayven Hopkins almost made it three Bearcats in double figures finishing with nine points.

Ryker Ash scored five of his six points in the first half rounding out the Hermann scoring against Warrenton.

“I’m proud of our guys for going to battle after a tough loss against Belle in the semifinals,” Lansford said. “We were able to out rebound them on the boards and give ourselves multiple chances on offense.”

Hermann vs. Belle

Dispatching St. Clair last Wednesday night 45-36 in opening round action of the Hermann Invitational Boys Basketball Tournament, Lansford’s Bearcats faced off against Belle’s Tigers who entered the game on a 12-game winning streak.

Leading the Tigers 12-7 after one quarter, Hermann took a 24-20 halftime lead in spite of being edged 13-12 by Belle in the second quarter.

Caught in a third-quarter cold spell, Hermann suddenly found themselves trailing 36-29 after three quarters.

In spite of winning the fourth quarter 19-16, Hermann’s bid for a second-half comeback came up four points short by a final score of 52-48.

Stiers led three Bearcats in double figures with 16 points followed closely by Ash with 15 markers and Witthaus with 13 points.

Hopkins added a first-quarter 3-pointer for three points while Zach Fredrick rounded out Hermann’s scoring with one point on a third-quarter free throw.

Garrett Gehlert led three Belle Tigers in double figures with 16 points.

Also in double digits for the Tigers were Kooper Elrod with 14 points while Hank Stratman threw in 10 points.

Hermann vs. St. Clair

Finally able to open Hermann Tournament play last Wednesday after Winter Storm Fern postponed the first two days of action, Lansford’s Bearcats took on St. Clair’s Bulldogs in a showdown of Four Rivers Conference (FRC) basketball teams.

Doubling up the Bulldogs 8-4 after one quarter, Hermann added to their lead in the second quarter to go in to halftime with a 24-18 advantage.

Outscoring St. Clair 15-9 in the third quarter, Hermann took a double-digit lead into the fourth quarter of their 45-36 victory.

Stiers finished with a game-high 23 points for the Bearcats which included five made 3-pointers.

Ash also reached double figures for Hermann with 11 points followed by five markers from Fredrick.

Layne Bader and Witthaus both added three points for the Bearcats.

Hosting Sullivan last night (Tuesday), Hermann’s Bearcats will pay a visit to Owensville High School (OHS) to face the Dutchmen as part of OHS’ winter homecoming with an approximate 7:15 p.m., tip time.