Hermann Middle School (HMS) Bearcat basketball teams coached by Dylan Walker and Todd Anderson opened the second full week of January back on Monday, Jan. 12 with a short road trip to Owensville before facing Union’s Wildcats also on the road on Thursday, Jan. 15.

Seeing their seventh-grade counterparts bid for a comeback come up short in a 26-21 loss to Owensville, Anderson’s eighth-grade Bearcats overcame seven lead changes in the first half outscoring the Dutchmen 36-5 after trailing 12-11 going on to a 47-17 victory.

Against the eighth-grade Dutchmen, Will Schutt and Miles Eikermann each led the Bearcats with 10 points in the scoring column.

Nate McDaris nearly made it three Bearcats in double figures finishing with eight points and three steals.

Eikermann added five assists, four steals and two rebounds to his 10 points while Schutt tacked on five boards, four steals and two assists to his double-digit scoring effort.

Chris Groner, Lane Bristow and Caleb Pohlmann each added four points for the Bearcats followed closely with three points from Logan Malloy.

Laramie Bristow and Weston Hopper both chipped in two points capping the eighth-grade Bearcat scoring.

Emerson Binkholder also grabbed four rebounds off the bench for Hermann.

Brayden Oldfather led Owensville with eight points.

Down 18-0 at the 3:42 mark of the second quarter of seventh-grade action, Walker’s Bearcats ended the first half on a 12-0 run trimming their halftime deficit to six at 18-12.

Jaxon Kallmeyer hit a 3-pointer with 3:35 for the third quarter tying the game at 19-19 before Owensville took a 20-19 lead into the fourth quarter on a Barrett Knight free throw with 47.4 for the period.

Held to two Matthew Tallent free throws in the final six minutes, Hermann’s valiant comeback effort fell five points short by a final score of 26-21.

Mason Roche and Kallmeyer each finished with six points while Frankie Dildine and Tallent both scored four points.

Bentley Kolks capped the Bearcat scoring with one point on a second-quarter free throw.

Kallmeyer added five rebounds and two assists to his six points while Roche had three steals and three rebounds to go with his six markers.

HMS at Union

Closing the week at Union against the host Wildcats, Walker’s seventh-graders dropped a close 21-16 decision while the eighth-grade Bearcats under Anderson turned a 16-9 halftime lead into a 51-25 victory.

Roche led Hermann’s seventh graders with seven points followed closely by five markers from Dildine.

Caleb Overkamp and Kallmeyer both scored two points capping the Hermann scoring at Union.

Scoring high than his uniform number, Eikermann led Hermann’s eighth-grade Bearcats equaling Union as a team with a game-high 25 points.

Schutt added seven points followed closely with six markers from McDaris.

Groner and Binkholder chipped in four points apiece followed by three points from Lane Bristow and two points from Lampkin.

HMS’ Bearcats will host Washington’s Blue Jays tomorrow (Thursday) in the annual daytime doubleheader between the two schools starting with seventh-grade action at 12:30 p.m.