Monroe County high school boys basketball teams will be competing in the annual Columbia-Freeburg Christmas Tournament that begins Thursday at Columbia High School.

Columbia, Waterloo, Gibault and Valmeyer will join tourney mainstays Marquette, Freeburg, Civic Memorial and Lovejoy.

Thursday action of local interest includes Valmeyer vs. Freeburg at 12:30 p.m., Columbia vs. Lovejoy at 2 p.m., Waterloo vs. Valmeyer at 3:30 p.m. and Columbia vs. Gibault at 6:30 p.m.

Action continues with all four local teams playing Friday and games for fourth through first place Saturday. See the full tourney schedule by clicking here.

Columbia is led by 6-foot-4 junior Jackson Holmes, who is averaging 16.3 points, 7.6 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game on the season.

Waterloo, which picked up its first win of the season last Wednesday at home against at Perryville, is led by senior Jake Wade and sophomores Ty Lenhardt and Ian Schrader. They are all averaging about seven points per game.

Lenhardt led the Bulldogs with 19 points in the 67-45 victory over Perryville. Waterloo pulled down 44 rebounds on the night and led 19-7 after the first quarter of that contest.

Gibault is led this season by seniors Max Kostelac and Will Simonton, junior Ryan Bollinger and freshman Kameron Hanvey. All are averaging about nine points per game.

Valmeyer has had the best start of the local teams entering tourney play, and has a trio of starters leading the way. Jacob Rowold, a junior, is averaging 17 points per game. Philip Reinhardt, a senior, is next at 15 points per game, followed by fellow senior Riley McCarthy at 11 points per game.

In other local hoops action, Dupo (2-9) lost 63-34 to Steeleville last Tuesday. The Tigers trailed 40-23 at halftime and committed 24 turnovers in the contest.

Chase Mantz led the Tigers with 11 points. Malik Calhoun added eight points and 10 rebounds. 

Dupo is led in scoring this season by Tyler Touchette at 11.5 points per game.