Pictured, Waterloo’s Kat Finnerty goes up for a shot against Valmeyer’s Blair Brady during the first quarter of the Candy Cane Classic at Gibault on Monday. (Corey Saathoff photo)

The Candy Cane Classic is underway at Gibault Catholic High School in Waterloo, with four local teams competing for the tournament title.

The tourney kicked off Monday with Waterloo battling cross-county foe Valmeyer. The two teams played evenly in the first quarter until the Bulldogs pulled away, winning 57-27.

Valmeyer’s Bethany Brinkman hit a three-pointer at the end of the first quarter to put her team down just one point at 17-16 entering the second quarter. She scored seven points in the opening frame for Valmeyer.

Waterloo turned on the jets in the second quarter, outscoring the Pirates 22-3 to build a 39-19 halftime lead.

Taylor Augustine led the Bulldogs with 11 points, including 3-for-7 shooting from three-point range. Sydney Luedeman also scored 11 points.

Kat Finnerty added nine points and 10 rebounds, and Destiny Restoff scored eight points for the Bulldogs (3-4), who face Marquette on Wednesday.

Valmeyer (1-5) will play Red Bud on Wednesday.

Columbia (6-2) played Wood River to open its tourney schedule on Tuesday night. Gibault (4-6) faced Roxana on Tuesday. The results of these games were not available at press time.

The winners and losers of both Tuesday contests will face each other on Thursday night.

The championship game of the Candy Cane Classic is set for 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

All five local girls hoops teams lost on Thursday.

Columbia dropped a 54-30 contest at Breese Central in a key Cahokia Conference clash. Madelyne Juenger led the way for the Eagles with 15 points. She leads the team in scoring this season at 14 points per game to go along with an average of five rebounds per contest.

Waterloo lost to Highland on Thursday, 75-29, in a Mississippi Valley Conference showdown. Augustine scored 12 points to lead Waterloo.

Gibault lost to Metro-East Lutheran, 44-33. Ashlyn Wightman continued her strong play this season with 17 points and 15 rebounds. She is averaging eight points and nine rebounds per game for the Hawks this season. Cat Deterding leads the team in scoring at 10.5 points per game.

Valmeyer lost to Marissa, 50-31. Brinkman led the Pirates with 10 points.

Dupo dropped a 40-22 contest to Wood River. Mackenzie Scheppelman led the Tigers with eight points.