Dispatching Missouri Military Academy’s (MMA) Colonels 61-25 last Tuesday night in first-round action from the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) Class 3, District 7 Boys Basketball Tournament at South Callaway High School in Mokane, Drew Lansford’s Hermann Bearcats earned a spot in the district semifinals last Thursday night opposite North Callaway’s Thunderbirds.

Already owning a 52-41 victory over the Thunderbirds from back in mid-January at the South Callaway Boys Basketball Tournament, the Bearcats were looking to punch their ticket to Saturday’s district championship game against the top-seed Centralia Panthers.

Leading 43-42 after three quarters before trailing 23-22 at halftime, Hermann wound up being outscored 16-9 in the fourth quarter of their 58-52 loss to North Callaway ending their season at 17-11 overall and 5-2 in Four Rivers Conference (FRC) play.

Right in the thick of the FRC title hunt going into the final week of the regular season, losses to St. James and eventual FRC Champion Union left them with a 5-2 mark in conference action leaving them tied for second with St. James.

Scoring 14 of his game-high 26 points in the second half, Kohlt Witthaus went 9-10 from the free-throw line.

Tayven Hopkins nearly joined Witthaus in double figures netting seven of his nine points in the third quarter.

Ryker Ash also came close to reach double digits in the scoring column scoring five of his eight points in the fourth quarter.

Myles Stiers chipped in all seven of his points in the first half.

Aiden Eikermann rounded out the Bearcat scoring against North Callaway with two points on a fourth-quarter bucket.

North Callaway went on to fall to eventual district champion Centralia Saturday night by a final score of 59-43 in Mokane.

Centralia took on Dixon’s Bulldogs in sectional action last night (Tuesday) at Linn High School.

Bearcats vs. MMA

Ending their regular season with a 53-41 road victory over New Haven’s Shamrocks along Highway 100, Lansford’s Bearcats entered their district opener last Tuesday night against MMA’s Colonels winning five of their last seven regular season games.

Jumping out to a 10-4 lead after one quarter, Hermann outscored the Colonels 21-9 in the second quarter helping them to a double-digit halftime lead by a score of 31-12.

Almost duplicating their second-quarter scoring output in the third quarter, the Bearcats entered the fourth quarter with a 54-23 lead meaning a running clock to start the fourth quarter via MSHSAA’s 30-point mercy rule.

Going on to post a 61-25 victory, Hermann was led by Stiers who finished with a game-high 21 points scoring 15 of those in the first half.

Witthaus also reached double figures with 17 points netting 10 of those in the second quarter alone.

Kruz Eldringhoff and Zach Frederick each added six points for the Bearcats.

Eldringhoff scored all six of his points in the third quarter while Frederick hit for four of his six points in the second quarter.

Ash contributed four points followed closely with three markers from Tayven Hopkins all in the second half.

Ashton Rucker and Eikermann each scored fourth-quarter buckets for two points rounding out the Hermann scoring.

All-FRC voting will take place on Wednesday, March 11.