MOKANE — Nearly coming back from an early 19-0 deficit last Wednesday against Russellville in pool play at the South Callaway Boys Basketball Tournament in Mokane, Drew Lansford’s Hermann Bearcats took on the host Bulldogs Saturday afternoon looking to bring third-place hardware back to Hermann.

Nursing a 43-39 lead after three quarters, the Bearcats connected on seven of the 10 free-throw attempts in the fourth quarter of their 63-54 victory.

Seeing his first action of the season this week after a season-ending leg injury in football, Myles Stiers led the Bearcats scoring 13 of his game-high 20 points in the first half.

Tayven Hopkins also finished in double figures with 14 points hitting for 11 of them also in the second half.

Kruz Eldringhoff and Ryker Ash narrowly missed making in a quartet of double-digit Bearcats scorers finishing with eight points.

Kohlt Witthaus scored all six of his points in the fourth quarter to go along with three points apiece from Layne Bader and Zach Fredrick.

Corbin Sadler rounded out the Hermann scoring against South Callaway with one point on a first-quarter free throw.

Dylan Stonecipher led the host Bulldogs with 15 points.

Bearcats vs. Russellville

Opening the tournament last Tuesday with a 52-41 victory over North Callaway, Hermann looked to punch their ticket into the championship game with a win last Wednesday over the top-seeded Russellville Indians.

Playing from behind virtually the entire contest, Hermann nearly overcame a 19-2 first-quarter deficit before coming up on the short end of a 48-45 final score.

Ash netted 16 of his game-high 21 points in the second half which also included five makes from 3-point land.

Witthaus added eight points to go along with seven markers from Stiers.

Aiden Eikermann scored all four of his points in the second quarter while Kruz Eldringhoff nailed a second-quarter 3-pointer to account for his points.

Fredrick hit a pair of third-quarter free throws for his two points against the Indians.

Justin Seaver led Russellville with 17 points.

Bearcats vs. North Callaway

In their South Callaway Tournament opener last Tuesday against North Callaway’s Thunderbirds, Hermann made a 28-15 halftime lead stand before going on to a 52-41 victory behind a game-high 30 points from Witthaus.

Ash added seven points while Eikermann deposited all six of his points in the second half.

Hopkins chipped in four second-half points to go along with a second-quarter 3-pointer from Fredrick and a pair of Bader free throws in the fourth quarter for two points.

Dalton Brewer paced North Callaway with a team-high 10 points.

For their outstanding play in Mokane, Ash and Witthaus were selected to the All-Tournament Team at South Callaway.