SPRINGFIELD — Josh Peters didn't get to fully show at the Blue & Gold Tournament this week the exceptional athletic genes he inherited from his mother. But playing at her alma mater brought out the best in his jump shot.
Peters netted seven 3-point goals and scored 25 points to power Nixa to a 59-38 absolute blowout of Rogersville in the Gold Division championship game Thursday.
Peters didn't dunk at the Blue & Gold, but Nixa fans know he has hops, just like his mother did during her glory days.
Peters' mom, Kim (Fleig) Peters, was an All-Gateway Conference setter during her career in the early 1990s at Missouri State. She also played basketball as a prep at Festus.
"She was a real high jumper (even as a setter)," Josh said. "She doesn't talk about (her career) a lot. But she is a major basketball fan."
The Josh Peters fan club no doubt grew Thursday. At halftime, he had six 3-pointers and 22 points.
It was Peters 22, Rogersville 18 at the half. On the scoreboard, Nixa was up 37-18. The two teams were playing a different game, making for an anticlimactic finale.
Peters was 6-of-7 beyond the arc in the first half. He was somewhat bewildered Rogersville defenders didn't play tighter defense on him. But the Wildcats' scouting report on Peters likely included excerpts regarding his prowess penetrating to the hoop.
The 6-foot-5 junior swingman is a matchup problem.
"I definitely wouldn't leave me open," Peters said when asked how teams should defend him. "I don't know, I don't think I want to tell people how to defend myself."
"It's hard to guard him because you've got to contest his 3 or else he's going to light you up, or if you do contest it, he's going to go by and might dunk on you," said teammate Kael Combs, who scored 14 points and often fed Peters the ball. "He has this in him every game. He's a good player, a good athlete. His name will be up there for a while."
Peters didn't fall into the trap during his formative years of shooting nothing but 3s.
"Starting young, it was about shooting the ball," he said. "Recently, it's been about taking it off the dribble and hitting the 'middie' or something close to the basket because people know I can shoot.
"If they know you're going to shoot, it's easy to guard you," he added. "You've got to be able to do different things if you want to be open."
"He's definitely an all-around player," coach Brock Blansit said.
Peters obviously wasn't in pursuit of adding his name to the Blue & Gold records book. He didn't attempt a shot in the second half until he made his seventh 3 a minute into the fourth quarter.
He only attempted one more jumper and it was from mid-range.
The Blue & Gold record for 3s is nine, the Gold Division mark is eight.
"I didn't know that obviously," Blansit said. "When I took him out and started getting booed from our own fans, I knew I made a mistake."
Nixa's 10 treys upped its four-day total to 42, tying the tourney's team record for 3s.
The Eagles' hot hands had to make Rogersville's highly-touted baseball players wishing they were on a diamond instead of the hardwood.
"Making shots takes care of a lot of problems and we made a lot of shots tonight," Blansit said. "They just happened to be going in early tonight and they kind of kept going. Those (games) are always fun as a coach because it doesn't always work out like that. Some games you don't even want a halftime, you just want to keep going into the second half.
"Whether we make them or miss them, we're going to continue to shoot them," he added. "We're going to keep doing what we do. If we keep winning, great. If we don't, we're going to keep shooting, anyway."
Blansit pointed out Combs' passing.
"We tried to get the ball to the high post with Kael and let him make plays. It worked better than I expected," Blansit said. "Their matchup (zone) is so good. (Kael) is such a good passer. That's part of his game people don't talk enough about. He's averaging around eight assists a game. He is so good at finding the open man."
Nixa's Blue & Gold championship is the program's first in eight years. The Eagles' 12-0 start matches Nixa's 12-0 getaway in 2009 for the program's best beginning over the last 15 years.
"We just need one more. We got Ozark next," Peters said about bettering the 2009 Eagles' start. "We feel great. Defense is good. Offense is obviously very good. We're in a good place."
