The successful seasons of two local high school hoops squads came to an end last week.

The Waterloo High School boys basketball team met its demise last Wednesday night, dropping a 43-31 contest to Centralia (28-3) at the Class 3A Centralia Regional. 

The Bulldogs ended with a record of 18-15, marking the program’s first winning season since the 2013-14 campaign. 

Waterloo trailed just 10-9 after the first quarter, and was down 30-24 entering the final frame against a tough opponent on their home court.

Ty Lenhardt, a senior, scored 17 points in his final game to lead the ‘Dogs. Alex Stell added 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds. 

Lenhardt finished his WHS career with 1,326 points, which ranks second all-time in school history. 

Another senior, Logan Calvert, averaged 11.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game for first-year head coach Allen Siedle’s squad.

The third key contributing senior was Ian Schrader, who averaged eight points and 4.36 assists per game. 

Other seniors ending their WHS hoops careers were Nixon Hergenroeder, Tony Irovic, Bryce Kollack, Anthony Maxey, Clayton McAlister, Noah Meyers and Garrick Schmidt. 

“All 10 helped push each other to a season that they should be proud of,” Siedle said. “We will miss them all, but they set a great example for our underclassmen.”

Stell, a 6-foot-8 freshman, finished his season averaging 8.1 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.53 blocks per game. He’ll be a key part of Waterloo’s plans going forward.

The Columbia High School boys basketball squad lost 50-34 to Mater Dei in the semifinals of the Class 2A Wesclin Regional on Friday night, ending its season at 23-9. 

Dylan Murphy scored 11 points to lead the Eagles, who shot just 33.3 percent from the floor.

Mater Dei, who lost to Breese Central in the regional final, shot 62.5 percent from the floor against Columbia. 

The only senior for Columbia this season was Glenn Powers, who averaged 9.5 points and 2.55 assists per game. 

The future of the Eagles is definitely bright, as a trio of juniors and a tall freshman who played large roles for this year’s squad will all return.

Murphy, a junior, led the team in scoring at 15.3 points per game and also averaged nearly six rebounds per contest.

Others key to this season’s success were juniors Jack Steckler and Dominic Voegele. Steckler averaged 10.2 points per game. Voegele averaged nearly seven points and 2.28 steals per contest.

At 6-foot-6, freshman Sam Donald made his presence known in his first varsity season. He averaged 9.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.41 assists per game.