VIENNA — The Lady Eagles basketball team walked into winter break with the kind of week every program hopes to see before the calendar flips, a stretch of play that delivered their most complete performances of the season and a clear sign that momentum is finally on their side. Two wins in four days, three wins in two weeks, including a seventy-point win over Chamois and a 20 point statement against Newburg, pushed Vienna over the five-win mark and sent them into the break sitting at 5-4.

Chamois came to town first, and from the opening minutes it became obvious the night would belong to the Vienna guards who refused to slow down. Junior guard and future captain Ella Hollis put together the best outing of her season, piling up twenty-five points with thirteen falling in a blistering first quarter that set the tone for everything that followed. Rising star Scarlett Weeks matched that energy with her own eighteen-point performance, carving up the lanes and finding clean looks that Chamois simply did not know how to defend.

Aubrey Schwartze added fourteen points in what ended up being her lowest scoring game of the year, a number that says more about her season than anything else. Delaney Schwartze, Aspyn Gorman and Alexis Curtis each finished with seven, while Macie Rowden and Liberty Rowden contributed two apiece. It was apparent Vienna wanted to spread the rock to nearly every player who touched the floor.

The mood stayed the same three days later when Newburg arrived holding a 5-4 record and eager to prove they were the stronger team heading into the break. Vienna entered at 4-4, and everyone in the gym knew that this one would decide who walked into the holidays with a winning mark. The Lady Eagles answered that challenge with a 53-39 win that opened with a tone-setting burst from a player who refused to let her previous performance define her.

Schwartze looked like she had something to settle the moment the ball left the referee’s hands. After scoring fourteen against Chamois, she came out with a fire Newburg never managed to contain, finishing the night with a double-double and twenty-eight points, including ten at the free-throw line. Hollis backed her with a steady twelve, Weeks added six, Curtis finished with two, Macie Rowden scored two, Gorman added two, and Liberty Rowden chipped in one.

The difference in the game came down to Newburg’s whistle trouble, a steady stream of fouls that gave Vienna exactly the edge they needed. The Lady Eagles stepped to the line twenty-seven times and converted seventeen of them behind Schwartze’s 10-12 night at the stripe. Every trip mattered, especially in a game defined by physical play on both ends of the floor.

With three straight wins behind them, the Lady Eagles now sit at five-four heading into the break, their first real winning streak of the season and a wave of momentum they’ll do everything they can to carry into Jan. The Lady Eagles will have roughly 2 weeks off to get ready for their upcoming battle on Jan. 6 where they will travel to Cuba who sit at 8-1 to take on the Lady Wildcats who have quietly put together one of the steadiest defensive runs in the area, dropping only one game all season, which came in overtime. No one has been able to crack their pressure for long, as they’ve allowed more than 40 points just once this year. That matchup now sets an intriguing tone for Vienna, because through the first half of the season the Lady Eagles are averaging 58.5 points per game, a number fueled by pace, ball movement, confidence and the scoring depth they’ve found during this recent stretch.