chool, and two local squads have their sights set on the tourney title. 

The host Hawks improved to 7-2 on the season with a 47-40 victory Monday night over Riverview Gardens to begin their tourney run. Gibault led by just one point after the third quarter, but closed out the final frame with a 14-8 run. 

Karmon Grohmann led the Hawks with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Claire Higgenson added 14 points. 

Gibault faced Metro East Lutheran in the tourney on Tuesday night, winning 41-8. 

Prior the tourney, Gibault won 42-21 over Maryville Christian on Friday. Karmon Grohmann had 17 points, 10 rebounds and six steals. Kamille Grohmann added 11 points and 10 rebounds. 

Kamille Grohmann, a senior, is averaging 12.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, four steals and 1.7 blocks per game on the season. 

Karmon Grohmann, a junior, is averaging 10.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.4 steals per contest.

The Candy Cane Classic continues Wednesday and then concludes Saturday, with the championship game set to take place at about 1 p.m. 

One team expecting to be in the final is Columbia (7-2). The Eagles opened the tourney Monday night with a 56-20 throttling of New Athens. The Eagles led 21-2 after the first quarter and 34-5 at halftime. 

Sam Schmuke had 12 points and six steals for Columbia, which also got 12 points from Kinley Jany. 

The Eagles will face Red Bud on Wednesday for a berth in the tourney final. 

Columbia plays a non-tourney game Thursday against Breese Central.

On Thursday, the Eagles won 50-46 at Salem despite trailing 14-9 after the opening quarter. Schmuke poured in 15 points and had five steals. Ava Mathews scored 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Jany added 10 points.

Schmuke leads the team in scoring this season at 15.3 points per game in addition to averaging 5.44 steals per contest.

Jordan Holten is averaging 10.3 points per game.

Waterloo (5-5) picked up a pair of recent wins. 

On Friday, the Bulldogs won 53-47 at home over Mascoutah. Sam Juelfs led the way with 16 points and nine rebounds. Kristin Smith added 12 points, and Kate Lindhorst contributed 10 points.

Last Wednesday, it was a 59-18 win for Waterloo at Affton. The Bulldogs led 34-4 at halftime. 

Juelfs again led the way with 19 points. Aubrey Heck added 12 points, five assists and five steals. 

Juelfs is averaging nearly 10 points per game this season to lead the Bulldogs, who host Mater Dei on Wednesday, play Friday at Civic Memorial, and travel Monday to Jerseyville. 

Dupo (2-5) posted a 50-7 victory on Thursday over O’Fallon First Baptist Academy. 

Kylie Kloess scored 13 points to lead the Tigers, who host New Athens on Thursday.