The postseason is about to begin for local high school girls basketball squads. 

Regional tournament action starts Saturday for three of the four local hoops teams.

Columbia (21-7) is hosting a Class 2A regional and will face Sparta at noon Saturday. The winner of this contest will take on Mater Dei at 7:30 p.m. Monday. 

Other teams in the Columbia Regional are Althoff, Red Bud and Breese Central. 

The Eagles faced Breese Central on Thursday, falling 74-33 to end an eight-game winning streak. The Cougars improved to 26-2 on the season with the victory. 

Columbia played Tuesday night at Triad, losing 58-43, and will conclude its regular season Thursday at Roxana. 

Two seniors, Sam Schmuke and Jordan Holten, have led the way this season for the Eagles. 

Schmuke is averaging 15.5 points and 5.3 steals per game; Holten is averaging 11 points and 6.2 rebounds per contest.

Waterloo (12-18) will travel south for postseason play. The Bulldogs are in the Class 3A Herrin Regional and will open play 7:30 p.m. Tuesday against Freeburg. A win puts them in the regional final on Feb. 21.

Other teams in the Herrin Regional are Marion and Herrin. 

Waterloo lost 49-47 to Civic Memorial at home on Friday despite 13 points and 10 rebounds from senior Kristin Smith. Aubrey Heck added 10 points, six rebounds and six assists.

The Bulldogs host Jerseyville on Friday. 

Smith leads the team this season at 9.3 points and 2.8 steals per game. 

Gibault (12-13) will play in the Class 1A Marissa Regional starting with a contest 2 p.m. Saturday against Steeleville. The winner of this game will take on Sesser-Valier at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Marissa. 

Other teams in the Marissa Regional are New Athens, Trico and Marissa.

The Hawks lost 40-29 last Wednesday at Red Bud. Karmon Grohmann led Gibault with 13 points and 10 rebounds. The Hawks shot just 25 percent from the floor and were outrebounded 39-21. 

Gibault hosts Sparta on Wednesday to close out the regular season. 

Grohmann leads the Hawks this season at 11.8 points and 8.6 rebounds per game. 

Dupo (7-12) is hosting its own Class 1A regional and will host Bunker Hill at 11 a.m. Saturday. The winner of this game faces Okawville on Tuesday night. 

Other teams in the Dupo Regional are Metro East Lutheran, Maryville Christian and Sandoval. 

On Monday, the Tigers lost 48-28 to Steeleville. Addison Mitchell scored 11 points and Kylie Kloess added 10 points for Dupo.

On Tuesday, it was a 52-20 win for Dupo over Medicine & Bioscience. Kaitlynn Townsend led the Tigers with 15 points.

This past Thursday, the Tigers won 41-36 over New Athens. Dupo outscored New Athens to the tune of 13-5 in the fourth quarter. Townsend scored  nine points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Tigers, who play Thursday at Madison. 

Kloess, a freshman, is the top scorer this season for Dupo, averaging nearly eight points per game.