Columbia’s Cole Khoury finishes a dunk late in Friday’s victory at home over Freeburg. (Corey Saathoff photo)

The high school basketball season is going full speed with holiday tournaments on the horizon.

Columbia (3-4) defeated Freeburg at home on Friday night, 53-39, giving head coach Mark Sandstrom his 300th career victory. He now has 216 wins with the Eagles.

Columbia got off to a strong start, leading 13-5 after the first quarter. The team shot 54.5 percent from the floor for the game, led by senior Jordan Holmes with 22 points. Holmes added four steals.

Valmeyer (5-5) won its home opener on Friday night, 69-57, over winless Dupo. Owen Miller scored 16 points and Philip Reinhardt added 15 points for the Pirates.

Valmeyer dropped a hard-fought contest at Red Bud (7-2) on Saturday, however, 44-41. The Pirates trailed 18-9 after one quarter, but battled back to make it a close game late. Cole Juelfs led Valmeyer with 14 points. Griffin Ziebold scored a game-high 25 points for the Musketeers.

Waterloo (2-8) suffered two more tough losses this weekend. The Bulldogs have now lost five straight games.

On Friday, Waterloo held a 24-19 halftime lead at Jerseyville only to see the Panthers fight back for a 41-39 victory. Ross Schrader led the ‘Dogs with 14 points in the Mississippi Valley Conference clash.

On Saturday, Waterloo dropped a 69-58 home game to Mt. Vernon. Eli Dodd scored 18 points and Schrader added 14 points for Waterloo.

Gibault (2-6) lost at Catholic hoops rival Mater Dei on Saturday night, 56-41. The Hawks cut Mater Dei’s lead to 44-41 with 5:30 remaining in the contest, but cold shooting and turnovers doomed Gibault in the final minutes.

Johnny Adams played well for the Hawks in defeat.