Waterloo’s Tristan Schneider contests a shot by Columbia’s Korbin Farmer on Monday night. (John Spytek photo)

The Columbia Eagles boys basketball team has soared to its best start in recent memory, improving to 10-0 while advancing to the final of the Columbia-Freeburg Holiday Tournament played at Columbia High School.

On Monday, Columbia defeated cross-county foe Waterloo in a physical rivalry match-up, 66-47. The two teams played fairly even at the start with the Eagles seemingly out of rhythm offensively. But Columbia’s defense rose to the occasion, forcing 17 Bulldog turnovers.

Drew Huebner turned in a monster game, scoring a game-high 24 points and grabbing 12 rebounds for the Eagles. Korbin Farmer also had a big night with 16 points and six blocked shots.

Ben Huels scored 23 points for the Bulldogs, who bounced back from Monday’s defeat to post a come-from-behind victory over Piasa Southwestern on Tuesday, 48-45. The Bulldogs trailed by as many as 13 points in the fourth quarter before mounting a rally. Griffin Lenhardt led the charge for Waterloo, scoring 18 points. Huels added 11 points, six steals and five assists.

With the win, Waterloo advanced to the tourney consolation final against Marquette, which takes place 4 p.m. Wednesday.

On Tuesday evening, Columbia throttled Freeburg 64-34 to advance to the tourney final to be played against Triad at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The Eagles are seeking to repeat as tourney champs.

Columbia shot 55 percent from the floor and 56 percent from three-point range in the win over Freeburg. Ryan Gudeman was the high-point guy in this game, scoring 25 points — including 3-for-4 shooting from three-point land.

In other tourney action on Tuesday, Valmeyer picked up its second win of the season with a 61-42 victory over Dupo. Owen Miller exploded for 22 points for the Pirates. Austin Francis led the way in scoring for the Tigers with 21 points.

For our recap of earlier tourney action at CHS, click here.