Valmeyer’s Michael Chism shoots against New Athens on Friday night. (Alan Dooley photo)

High school basketball action filled area gyms on Friday night, with four entertaining match-ups.

Gibault improved to 6-1 on the season with a 63-60 win at Metro-East Lutheran. The Hawks trailed 33-28 at halftime but stormed out of the gates in the third quarter to build a seven-point lead.

Metro-East Lutheran battled back to make it close at the end, but Gibault senior Trevor Davis — who was limited due to an ankle injury suffered in practice earlier this week — sank some late free-throws to seal the deal. Davis scored 14 points for the Hawks, who lost at Nashville on Saturday, 64-43. Gibault was held to just 35 percent shooting from the floor in the loss. Garrett Rueter led the Hawks with 13 points.

Also experiencing the thrill of victory on Friday were the Valmeyer Pirates, who topped New Athens, 68-60.

New Athens actually led 16-6 after one quarter, but the Pirates came to life in the second quarter to only trail by one at halftime, 22-21.

Valmeyer took that momentum into the third quarter to build a lead, and then both teams combined for 61 points of offense in the fourth quarter.

Michael Chism led the way for Valmeyer with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Phillip Reinhardt added 17 points, including 3-of-7 shooting from three-point land. As a team, the Pirates (4-4) shot 80 percent from the free-throw line.

In Columbia, the Eagles hosted Wesclin in their home opener. In a thrilling game, Columbia (2-3) lost in overtime, 44-41.

The Eagles led for much of the game, using strong defensive pressure to stifle the Warriors. Columbia took a 24-18 halftime lead into the locker room.

Wesclin made some key shots late to tie it at the end of regulation. The Warriors actually had a great chance to win it at the buzzer, but a short-range shot was missed following a perfect Hail Mary cross-court pass with less than a second left. Wesclin outscored Columbia 9-6 in OT to come away with the win.

Greg Long led the scoring for Columbia with 17 points, including 3-of-7 shooting from three-point land. Jared Germain and Cole Khoury added eight points each for the Eagles.

On Saturday, Columbia lost at Mascoutah, 49-34. The Eagles were held to 35 percent shooting from the floor. Long led the way with 12 points, followed by Khoury and Jon Peterson with 10 points each.

Waterloo traveled to Triad in a Mississippi Valley Conference clash, and this game also went into OT. The Bulldogs (1-6) trailed 33-31 at halftime but outscored the Knights 14-7 in the third quarter to open up a 45-40 lead.

Triad battled back to tie it at the end of regulation and carried that momentum into the extra frame for a 61-56 win.

Ben Huels led the way for Waterloo with 17 points and five steals. Ross Schrader added 13 points and Dylan Hunt turned in a strong all-around game with nine points, six rebounds and eight blocks.