It's safe to say Vienna's Isaac Weider is going to have some nice memories of the Calvary Lutheran gym after the past week.
On Tuesday, Weider put up a stunning 50 points in a regular-season game against the host Lions.
Then came Friday and Saturday, where Weider helped lead the Eagles to a championship in the Calvary Lutheran Tournament by scoring 61 points in three victories.
And lest it get lost in the shuffle, those 61 points helped the super sophomore surpass the 1,000-point plateau for his career.
"I like this gym," Weider said with a smile after Vienna beat St. Louis Christian Home School Association 67-66 in the championship game. "(Passing 1,000) was really special. I've worked hard for this and it's paid off."
Weider had 31 points in the title-game win, including 16 in the third quarter that helped the Eagles got up 56-39. But they needed every bit of production to hold off a furious rally by the Blue Knights, who tied it with slightly more than two minutes left before falling.
"That was scary," Vienna coach Mike Beeman said. "I thought we were in a comfortable spot, but we just kind of lost our minds down the stretch."
The finish shouldn't have come as a surprise after the way the game played out, with no lead ever being safe.
The Eagles led 7-0 after just 42 seconds of play, only to trail 20-14 by the end of the first quarter.
The Blue Knights then led 22-16 early in the second period when the Eagles roared back with a 15-2 run that was capped off by 3-pointers from Weider and Parker Hayes. Vienna eventually took a 33-26 lead into the locker room.
The Eagles then appeared to have things comfortably in hand after outscoring the Blue Knights 23-13 in the third quarter to lead 56-39. Weider hit his final five shots in the quarter, the second-to-last being a 3 that put him at 1,000 points even, and the last being a layup that broke the plateau.
"We just played together really well in that quarter and my teammates found me when I was open, and then I was able to connect," Weider said.
The lead was still 17 after the first two minutes of the fourth quarter, but that's when the Blue Knights surged back, forcing turnovers on four of the next five possessions by the Eagles. All five of the ensuing possessions for the Blue Knights ended in layups.
"The frustrating part was that teams have pressed us this year and we've just gone through everybody's press like it was water," Beeman said. "... So I just didn't see that coming. I think we got excited and panicked. ... But (the Blue Knights) are so quick - their two guards are the quickest two kids we've seen this year."
After a layup by Steven Livengood helped stem the tide a bit, St. Louis Christian hit three straight 3s to tie the game at 63 with 2:09 left. The teams then traded empty possessions before the Eagles found Livengood free for another layup that gave them the lead for good with 1:03 left.
Weider said the game got very intense down the stretch, but that late score showed the Eagles kept their composure.
"It was a little nerve-wracking," he said. "But we work well as a team and we all believe in each other."
Vienna missed the front end of two one-and-ones down the stretch that could have helped seal the win, but Weider made two free throws with 9.4 seconds left that proved to be huge when the Blue Knights hit a 3 at the buzzer.
Beeman said the fourth quarter woes may have been due to playing not only a game earlier in the day, but one on Friday night as well. St. Louis Christian got a walkover in the semifinals when Belle was not able to make the game due to Saturday's snow.
Braeden Patton joined Weider in double figures for the Eagles (12-1) with 10 points, while Livengood had eight points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
III
Earlier on Saturday, the Eagles turned back Calvary Lutheran 78-52 in a winner's bracket semifinal.
Vienna put five players in double figures in the win, led by Ryan Logan's 16 points. Weider chipped in with 15, Tanner Helton had 14, Livengood added 11 and Patton scored 10.
The Eagles started the tournament by blasting The Fulton School at St. Albans by a 71-15 score Friday night.
Vienna raced out to a 29-5 lead after the first quarter and pushed the edge to 29-9 at halftime. The Eagles were up 66-15 heading to the final quarter, where they pitched a shutout, outscoring St. Albans 5-0.
Weider scored 15 and was the only Eagle in double figures.
III
The Calvary Lutheran Lions didn't get in as much work as they would have liked in the tournament, as Saturday had a much lighter work load than expected.
The Lions (4-8) started the day with a 78-52 loss to Vienna in the winner's bracket semifinals and they then took third place by default when the winter weather kept Belle from returning for either its winner's bracket semifinal or the third-place game.
Against Vienna, the Eagles took a 21-10 lead after one quarter and pushed it to 36-23 at halftime. Vienna then put it away with a 27-9 edge in the third quarter that made it 63-32 heading to the final period.
Jack Robbins had 16 points to lead Calvary.
Calvary started the event Friday with a 43-38 win against Lutheran: Kansas City.
Calvary was led by Alex Flannigan's 14 points.