Recap of weekend boys basketball action
Local boys high school basketball teams took to the court over the weekend with mixed results.
Columbia and Gibault each split a pair of games, while the Waterloo Bulldogs posted a big conference road win at Triad. Valmeyer lost to New Athens.
The Eagles hosted conference rival Wesclin for its home opener at CHS on Friday. In a nailbiter, Columbia lost 42-40. The Eagles shot just 37 percent from the floor, but still had a chance to tie or win in the final seconds after Wesclin hit two free throws to go up by two with five seconds remaining. An Eagles shot at the buzzer fell just short. Korbin Farmer led the Eagles with 14 points, including his first dunk of the season to the delight of the the home crowd.
On Saturday, Columbia hosted Pleasant Plains, and the result was much better. The Eagles received balanced scoring and shot 58 percent from the floor in a 70-50 win. The Eagles led by 16 points at halftime and never let up. Farmer, Ryan Gudeman and Drew Huebner each scored 16 points. Jonny Holmes added 14.
Gibault went on the road to Metro East Lutheran on Friday night, winning 49-32. The Hawks shot 42 percent from the floor as a team and led by 14 points at the half. Jacob Rueter led the way with 14 points for Gibault, including four three-pointers. He also had five steals. Trevor Davis added 10 points and 10 rebounds in the victory.
The result was much different Saturday against a tough Nashville squad. Gibault lost its three-point shooting touch (1-for-13 as a team) in a 52-29 defeat. Brian Deterding, last week’s Republic-Times Athlete of the Week, led the way with 14 points. Davis added 10 points.
Following its first victory of the season Tuesday night at Freeburg following an 0-5 start, Waterloo played at conference foe Triad on Friday. The result was a 49-40 victory for the Bulldogs. As a team, Waterloo shot 42.5 percent from the floor for the game. Ryan Aycock led the way for Waterloo, scoring 16 points — including 4-for-9 shooting from three-point land. He added four steals.
Playing without its top two scorers for the second straight game, Valmeyer lost at New Athens on Friday night, 57-35. Matt Hemenway led Pirates scorers with seven points.
Read a full recap of hoops action in the Dec. 17 edition of the award-winning Republic-Times newspaper.