The dribbles, drives, lay-ups and rebounds continue at a furious pace on the local high school girls basketball scene. 

Columbia (21-5) has won eight straight and is building more confidence for a deep postseason run in the process. 

On Monday, the Eagles won 40-22 over Freeburg. Jordan Holten led the way with 16 points and 10 rebounds, followed by Sam Schmuke with 15 points and four steals. Both are seniors for Columbia.

On Saturday, it was a hard-fought 58-52 victory in overtime for Columbia against a solid Marissa squad. Schmuke poured in 21 points and had another five steals. Kinley Jany added 12 points for the Eagles.

On Thursday, Columbia posted a 48-39 win over Salem. Holten had 19 points and 10 rebounds, with Schmuke contributing 18 points and six steals.

Last Tuesday, the Eagles hosted rival Waterloo and picked up the 47-34 win. Schmuke led the way for Columbia with 15 points and six steals. Holten added 13 points and eight rebounds as the Eagles won the turnover battle 17-8.

Schmuke leads Columbia at 15.5 points and 5.27 steals per game this season. Holten is averaging 11 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. 

Columbia plays Thursday at Breese Central.

In Waterloo’s losS last Tuesday at Columbia, Mallory Thompson led the Bulldogs with 14 points. 

Waterloo (12-17) got back in the win column Friday night with a 61-43 victory at Mascoutah. The Bulldogs led 16-4 after the first quarter and were led on the night by Kristin Smith’s 24 points, six rebounds and six steals.

On Monday, the Bulldogs traveled across town to face rival Gibault. Waterloo won the game 62-39, pulling away from a close first half with a 23-8 run in the third quarter.

Nichole Gum led Waterloo with 15 points, followed by Smith with 13 points. Smith. a senior, leads Waterloo this season at 9.1 points and  2.6 steals per contest.

Waterloo hosts Civic Memorial this Friday.

Karmon Grohmann led the Hawks with 20 points and 10 rebounds in Monday’s loss.

Gibault (12-12) won at Bunker Hill on Thursday, 52-22. Kamille Grohmann led the team with 12 points, 10 assists and seven steals. Karmon Grohmann added 10 points.

The Hawks play Wednesday at Red Bud and Monday at Dupo.

Karmon Grohmann is tops for Gibault this season at 11.8 points and 8.5 rebounds. Next is Kamille Grohmann at 10 points per game in addition to her team-leading 4.2 assists and 3.7 steals per contest.

Dupo (5-11) posted a 56-39 victory last Wednesday at McKinley, getting 10 points Kaitlyn Roberts, Kylie Kloess and Keara Prater, who also had 14 rebounds. 

Kloess, a freshman, leads Dupo in scoring this season at 7.7 points per game. 

Prater, a sophomore, is tops on the team at eight rebounds per game. 

The Tigers play Thursday at New Athens before hosting Gibault this coming Monday.