Taking The Next Step Small-School Star Tries Her Wings In Prep All-Star Basketball Game

In North Idaho’s talent-challenged A-4 North Star League, 5-foot-7 Falls Christian Academy point guard Sarah Peterson is a giant among her peers.

Friday, when Peterson steps on the court for the Eastern Washington-North Idaho All-Star Basketball Classic at Lake City High School, she just hopes she’s not in over her head.

“I’d like to score a few points, get a couple of steals,” the senior-to-be said of her modest goals. “Mainly, I just don’t want to do anything stupid and embarrass myself.”

Playing in the all-star game - which tips off at 7:30 - may be a leap of faith for Peterson, easily the best player that the small private Christian school in Post Falls has produced and one of the best ever in the NSL.

Peterson’s first taste of playing against higher-caliber players came last summer in the Idaho Basketball Congress International (BCI) state four-game series, but the experience doesn’t rank among her fondest memories.

“I was a little intimidated,” Peterson said. “We don’t have a lot of competition for (spots on our school team) and the league isn’t very competitive. But Friday is a great opportunity for me especially being from a small school and playing with all the big-name people. It’s going to be challenging.”

Peterson joins a star-studded roster that includes, among others, the five starters off the State A-1 championship Lake City team, Alli Nieman of Sandpoint and Jana Nearing of Bonners Ferry.

So, how did the first practice with the all-star team go for Peterson last Friday?

“I was a little intimidated,” said Peterson, who, as a three-year starter at FCA, sports a career average of 18 points per game.

Newly named Lake City coach Dave Stockwell, who will coach the North Idaho stars with Coeur d’Alene’s Sheila Sharp, liked what he saw of Peterson last weekend.

“She has some pretty good skills,” he said. “She shoots the ball well and handles the ball fairly well. She’s a good athlete, but you can tell she hasn’t played at this high of a level. You can tell she’s awestruck a bit.”

Peterson had the unenviable task of guarding LC’s Jennifer Kerns in practice.

“I scored a few on her, but she scored a few more on me,” smiled Peterson about the Washington State University-bound Kerns.

Kerns recalled playing against Peterson a few times in youth recreational games during junior high. After hearing a lot about Peterson’s success at the A-4 level, Kerns decided to go watch an FCA game last year.

“I remember she played really well,” Kerns said. “She’d improve a lot if she played against better competition all the time. If I could give her any advice it would be to be more aggressive on both ends of the court.”

It’s generally conceded that Peterson can hold her own against the better players when it comes to shooting and ballhandling. But her footspeed isn’t as developed as the higher-caliber players.

One reason could be that, until last year, Peterson had played mostly on a carpeted floor. FCA’s multi-purpose gym doubles as a sanctuary for the church. Last year, school officials replaced the carpet with a tiled surface called Sport Court.

So Friday’s game is big for Peterson in many ways, not just the fact that she’ll be playing on a hardwood court.

Peterson has never played in front of a crowd larger than 300 (a crowd of more than 2,000 is expected Friday).

“It’s a chance for exposure,” said Peterson, who carries a 4.0 grade-point average and has not had anything less than an A on a report card since kindergarten. “Hopefully, I’ll be able to take something from the experience that will help improve my game and help me take my game to another level.”

Notes: A crowd of 1,800 attended the first all-star game on a humid summer night last year at Central Valley High School in Spokane. Heat or no heat, fans attending Friday’s game will be treated to air conditioning at the new LC gym….Spokane Stars co-founder and director Ron Adams, who came up with the idea for the all-star game, won’t predict a winner. “It’s a flat tossup,” he said.

All children 12 and under will be admitted free….With proper footwear, they can go on the court for autographs between 6:30 and 7…Stockwell said that at some point, all five Lake City starters will be on the court at the same time.

The Eastern Washington stars won last year, 70-63….The game will be played under NCAA men’s rules, with two 20-minute halves, no shot clock and over-and-back.

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