After opening 2026 with a loss at South Callaway, Drew Lansford’s Hermann Bearcats looked to get back on the winning track last week in action against Washington, St. Clair and Cuba.

Edging Washington 42-40 on a Ryker Ash 3-pointer in the closing seconds, Hermann then opened Four Rivers Conference (FRC) play last Thursday night with a 46-42 road victory at St. Clair.

Going for a three-win week, Hermann hosted Cuba’s Wildcats last Friday night in a Highway 19 cat fight.

Nursing an 11-10 halftime lead, Hermann took a 27-24 lead into the fourth quarter before grinding out a 40-32 victory over Cuba moving them to 7-5 on the season.

Catching fire in the second half, Kohlt Witthaus called blackjack with a game-high 21 points. He scored 16 of those in the second half.

Aiden Eikermann added all five of his points in the second half followed closely by the trio of Kruz Eldringhoff, Tayven Hopkins and Ash with four points each.

Zach Fredrick rounded out the Bearcat scoring against Cuba with two points on a first-quarter bucket.

Hermann also took the junior-varsity contest by a final score of 44-17 behind a game-high 12 points from Ashton Rucker who scored all of those points in the second half.

Rucker was followed by the Bearcat quartet of EJ Lindahl, Trevin Hale, Sawyer Moore and Corbin Sadler with six points apiece.

Layne Bader added five points to go along with Roman Martin who scored all three of his points in the fourth quarter.

Bearcats at St. Clair

Opening the FRC portion of their season on the last Thursday in St. Clair, Hermann trailed 23-16 at halftime before coming from behind to post a 46-42 victory behind a 16-2 third-quarter run.

Eikermann led Hermann with 15 points including 13 of them in the second half.

Witthaus also finished in double digits with 12 points followed by seven markers each from Eldringhoff and Hopkins.

Ash capped the Bearcat scoring against the Bulldogs with five points.

Bearcats at Washington

Trailing for the vast majority of the game in Highway 100 hoops action last Monday night against Washington’s Blue Jays, Hermann faced a 34-26 deficit entering the fourth quarter before outscoring their Highway 100 neighbors to the east 16-6 in the final eight minutes of their 42-40 victory.

Witthaus led all scorers with 22 points for the Bearcats while Ash also ended up in double figures with 10 points.

Eikermann contributed six points while Hopkins hit a third-quarter 3-pointer for three points.

Fredrick hit a second-quarter free throw for his lone point of the game.

Up at the South Callaway Boys Basketball Tournament this week, Hermann opened pool play last night (Tuesday) against North Callaway’s Thunderbirds and will conclude pool play tonight (Wednesday) against Russellville.