PETERSON THE PLAYMAKER
Hardworking senior guard led West Side to Class 4A semistate
West Side senior guard Quimari Peterson scored 26 points and had four assists in an early 61-60 loss to Lawrence North, which eventually took Carmel to overtime in the Class 4A state championship game.
Peterson scored 23 points in an OT victory against Indianapolis Cathedral, which finished the regular season ranked No. 5 in the Class 4A poll by Associated Press.
He had 23 points in a regular-season win against Munster. He had 18 points in a 68-34 victory against Elkhart in the Michigan City Regional semifinals. He had 16 points in a 58-43 victory against South Bend Riley in the regional final. And he led the Cougars with 16 points in a 53-50 OT loss to Carmel in the Lafayette Jefferson Semistate.
When Peterson wasn’t in the lineup because of an injury, Andrean upset the Cougars (22-5).
Detect a pattern here? Every single time West Side needed someone to step up in a big moment, Peterson, the 2020-21 Post-Tribune Boys Basketball Player of the Year, was there to make plays.
And if he didn’t score, Peterson was there to get the ball to players like Jalen Washington and Chrishawn Christmas.
Peterson averaged 14.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists. He has offers from Indiana State, New Orleans and Valparaiso. More could be in the works.
Peterson said he’s inspired by high levels of competition.
Peterson led the team in scoring against Carmel despite missing most of the second quarter with two fouls. His 8-foot shot at the buzzer in regulation hit the back of the rim, or West Side would’ve been playing for a state title.
“I really like the competition,” he said.
Peterson also was motivated by some disappointing past tournament results. West Side lost its first sectional game in 2020 and lost in a sectional final in 2019 and 2018.
With the 6-foot-10 Washington healthy, there were no excuses for West Side this season.
Peterson was the person who shouldered the responsibility for making sure the Cougars didn’t fizzle out in the tournament. They won their first sectional and regional titles since 2005.
“We finally got somewhere in the playoffs,” Peterson said. “I felt like we had to make a run.”
Said West Side coach Chris Buggs: “He worked really hard. He had some setbacks as a junior and sophomore when he lost early in the tournament. He had three years of not making it out of sectionals. He was determined to have a better season.”
Buggs has known Peterson since he was in seventh grade. He’s so quiet that it’s hard to get a paragraph out of him. He prefers doing the work.
“He wasn’t as talented as he was determined,” Buggs said. “He just worked hard. He was determined to be good. I saw that pretty early.”
Peterson’s next big moment will come Sunday at Marian University for the Hoosier Basketball Top 60 Senior Workout.
It’s a tryout for the Indiana All-Stars. Very few players earn their way onto the team from the workout. Most already are in, although those players don’t know that.
Peterson figures he’s on the bubble. He’s going there with the idea that he has to make a splash to have a chance.
He knows how to get up for the moment. Jamil Tucker is the last player to make the team from West Side, back in 2006. Peterson wants to be the next one.
He will be ready. He’s going to have a talk with former 21st Century star Eugene German, who played his way onto the team in 2016.
“It definitely would be a big deal if I made it,” he said.