Click the thumbnails to see photos and videos from the game, and to hear post-game comments from Lukas Weaver, Cody Noel, and Coach Scott Hanson.

ESCANABA---His eyes were red and he had mixed emotions.

He kissed his fingers, pointed to the ceiling of the Escanaba High School Gym, and sent a shout-out to his mom and dad in heaven.

That's how Lukas Weaver ended things after playing the game of his life Monday night, helping his Eskymos survive a battle against the Marinette Marines, 79-73, before a large and supportive home crowd dressed in all orange.

Weaver scored 14 points and dished out four assists in his first game on the court since his mom and dad were both killed in a traffic crash while driving to Sault Ste. Marie to watch his game just ten days ago.

And it really seemed like Tara and Jerry Weaver were hidden somewhere in all of that orange, yelling like always for their son, as he turned in his best performance in an Eskymo uniform.

“We just got a good victory, and it feels good,” Weaver said. “I didn't know how I was going to shoot, so I just thought I'd get some lay-ups and hopefully get a W, and we did.”

“I was a little worried about him at first, because he just came back to practice with us last night,” Escanaba Coach Scott Hanson said. “I said “hey, this is your spot to start if you want it”, and he did. I was watching his wind, but it didn't seem like it was a problem for him. By far his best game as an Eskymo. I'm so happy for him.”

Another $900 was raised for Weaver's family in a Miracle Minute at Monday's game, along with $700 in a 50/50 raffle (which the winner donated its half back to the Weavers). A GoFundMe account has, so far, raised $217,541.

That's not to mention all of the money raised at sporting events around the Midwest, nor the money people have dropped into an account that was set up at First Bank.

Money wasn't on Lukas Weaver's mind in the slightest. He was just grateful at the way people have treated him, his brother and sister, and how everyone is honoring his parents.

“It's been amazing,” Weaver said. “It hasn't just been the Escanaba community. It's been all over the U.P., Wisconsin, pretty much everywhere, and it's amazing.”

Weaver was clutch in the fourth quarter for Escanaba as the Marines, behind the hot shooting of Sam Sommerfeldt and the strong inside-out play of Javon Brown, took the lead midway through the fourth quarter.

Weaver took a pass from Casey Bray on the baseline and laid it in, breaking a 63-63 tie as the student section roared nearby. Weaver says the fans were a factor in the win.

“They were amazing,” Weaver said. “The best student section in the U.P., that's for sure.”

“Overwhelming support from our community, and from all across the state,” Hanson said. “I've been in this gym for a lot of years, and we've had lots of orange-outs and white-outs and black-outs. This was about as much orange as I've ever seen. I'm glad to get back to playing the game of basketball here.”

Weaver's go-ahead basket wasn't the last word, though.

Sommerfeldt drained another triple to put his team back in front, before Bray answered with a monster triple of his own to give Escanaba a 68-66 lead. After the Marines split a pair of free throws, Weaver came through again, when Bray found him on an out-of-bounds play for an “and-one” basket that gave the Eskymos a 71-67 lead.

Brown answered at the other end, making it a two-point game, but the Eskymos continued pounding it inside to big Cody Noel. He put down another basket in the paint, making it 73-69. Noel led the Eskymos in scoring with 17 points.

“I just had it going,” Noel said. “My teammates got me involved and I just put it in. They didn't really have anybody as big as me, so I just took advantage of it and Coach got me involved.”

The icing on the cake, after Sommerfeldt nailed yet another triple, was two baseball passes to David Romps for one lay-up, and then, on the last play, yep, to Weaver, who laid it in to clinch the ultra-emotional six-point victory.

“I haven't practiced my lefty as much lately, so I just had to make sure it went in,” Weaver said. “I got it, it went in, and we got the W.”

“Only fitting that Lukas gets the basket to finish it off,” Hanson said, his voice hoarse. “That's a darn good basketball team, no matter what their record is (0-19). People in the UP don't realize what kind of schedule they play. They've been in most of their games. That's a way better win than most people realize.”

Sommerfeldt led the Marines with 28 points.

“He's a really, really smart basketball player,” Hanson said. “He came off the screens really well, and then on top of it, it's one thing to read the screen, but he just hit shot after shot after shot. We switched to a little bit of 1-3-1 at the end and that seemed to help. Pushed him a little farther from the basket. But he's a really nice player.”

While Brown chipped in with 16 points for the Marines, they didn't have enough to counter the Eskymos getting five players scoring in double figures. Noel and Bray both had 17 points, Shane Wallin added 15, Weaver had 14, and David Romps scored 12.

“When you put five players in double figures, you've going to win a lot of games,” Hanson said. “Because then, you can't shut one guy down.”

Escanaba improved to 8-4 on the season. The Eskymos have two tough Great Northern Conference games this week: Wednesday night in Menominee, and Friday night at home against Marquette. Counting Monday's win, the team will play nine games in 22 days.

And for all nine of those games, no matter where they are played, you can bet that there will be at least two people upstairs, dressed in orange, and cheering loudly for Weaver and his teammates.