Sarah Peterson Falls Christian Year: Senior Sport: Basketball Position: Guard

Eight rebounds gives Sarah Peterson hope that a tripledouble just might be within her grasp before her high school basketball career ends.

“I have to pass the ball, too,” the 5-foot-8 guard said with a smile.

Scoring isn’t a problem, as evidenced by Peterson’s 71-point explosion over the weekend in leading the Eagles to the championship of the Northport (Wash.) tournament.

Peterson scored 37 points in a 65-61 win over Northport on Friday, then outscored the entire Rossland, British Columbia, team the next night with a 34-point effort in a 54-33 victory.

The performance included 25-of-46 field-goal shooting (54 percent), 17-of-26 free-throw shooting (65 percent), plus five steals and four assists each night. Eight rebounds on Friday was Peterson’s career high.

Not bad considering Peterson jammed the thumbnail on her right hand diving for a loose ball in Falls Christian’s second game of the year.

That injury, coupled with a 52-46 loss to Logos of Moscow, actually helped the Eagles (5-2 overall), according to Peterson and Falls Christian coach Phyllis Tuttle.

Peterson did not play in last Tuesday’s 74-10 shellacking of North Idaho Christian.

“We’re not going to be able to win tight games with just me, we have to get everyone involved offensively,” Peterson said. “Tuesday, they played really well. It was kinda fun watching them play.”

Tuttle is the Eagles’ fourth coach in as many years. “Our offense is working so well that it really pops (Peterson) open,” Tuttle explained. “Everybody has a good shot, so you can’t key on one person.”

Peterson, an honorable mention A-4 all-stater in 1995, led the North Star League in scoring last season at 18.4 points per game and is atop the point totals again this year at 22 ppg.

“(Peterson) is very unselfish; that makes me very pleased for her,” Tuttle said. “She is not a ball hog; I told her I’d yell, ‘Suey,’ from the bench if she were.”

And Tuttle hasn’t yelled at Peterson yet. “I guess I’m OK so far,” Peterson said. “(Tuttle) lets me do what I need to do. She opens it up for me to do what I feel I can do.”

The 37-point game is one shy of Peterson’s career high. “(Northport was) really very aggressive and rough,” Tuttle said. “They fouled four starters out, and we got 40 rebounds in the game. We were able to outlet to Sarah and she just took off with the ball.”

Peterson pushed the pace against the Canadians. “Actually, I could have scored more points on Friday, I shot a ton of free throws (15 of 23),” Peterson said. “Saturday, I got a bunch of steals and had fastbreaks, mostly layups.”

The Eagles’ balance is moving Peterson away from the basket in their zone defense. In the past, she found herself playing low-post defense. “I like to play on top and put more pressure on the guards,” the 17-year-old said.A 4.0 student, Peterson will share valedictorian honors next spring with teammate Audrey Wallace.

George Fox (Ore.) College, Cedarville (Ohio) College, Evangel (Mo.) College and Alaska-Fairbanks are recruiting Peterson, a 4.0 student.The camp grading system is 1 to 5, with the latter being the highest. “I had 4s on all, except a 5 on attitude and a 3 on rebounding.”

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