The list of priorities for Lawrence High seniors this week included Thursday’s barbecue, today’s “Skip Day” and Saturday night’s prom.

A select handful also managed to squeeze in their best tennis of the spring season at the Lawrence Tennis Center.

Led by No. 2 singles player Gardner Burg, the LHS boys picked up at least one victory in three flights Thursday in a fifth-place team finish at the Lawrence Invitational.

“It’s amazing the seniors did so well with prom going on this weekend,” said LHS coach Dick Wedel, before rattling off the remainder of this week’s crowded itinerary. “These are big times.”

The only LHS player favored to win his first match Thursday was Burg, and the floppy-haired senior beat Leavenworth’s Andrew Johnson 6-1, 6-3 at No. 2 singles.

The inexperienced Johnson continually breached tennis etiquette by cheering every point he won – even when they resulted via an error by his opponent. At one point early in the first set, Burg mocked the ritual, but once he realized he wasn’t getting through, simply let his tennis do the talking.

“It’s hard to get distracted by the fact that you want to strangle the person on the other side of the net,” Burg said. “But he’s young; he’s never played before. He’ll learn better later on.”

The only downside for Burg – already guaranteed a top-four finish and a medal – was a tough remaining road. The No. 4-seeded Burg fell to top-seeded Chris Fotopoulos of Shawnee Mission East in the semis and lost to third-seeded Max Almenoff of Blue Valley Northwest in the third-place match.

“The second two were definitely better players,” Burg said, “but I just couldn’t quite find the consistency I needed to compete very well.”

The Lions’ best record came at No. 2 doubles, where seventh-seeded Justin Isbell and Anthony Frei rebounded from a first-round loss to earn their first two wins of the season and place fifth.

The pair have wasted little time developing an on-court chemistry after Isbell missed most of the first month of his final high school campaign while battling mononucleosis.

“I started the season real rough,” Isbell said. “We’re finally hitting our form.”

Ryan Robinson finished 1-2 at No. 1 singles to take sixth place, while Thomas and David Nieto lost both of their matches at No. 1 doubles to settle for seventh.

Shawnee Mission East won the team title with 36 points, edging out Blue Valley Northwest by a single tally. LHS finished with 17.

Next up for the Lions is Tuesday’s triangular meet at Leavenworth, followed 24 hours later by the Topeka West Invitational Tournament – the last major tuneup before the Sunflower League tourney May 9.

“I think we’ll just keep emphasizing to cut down on errors,” Wedel said. “And a couple of guys said their shots were off today, so we may have to look at mechanics.”