By Casey Bannon<\/strong> Before he stepped onto the Carver Arena floor in Peoria to play for a state championship; before Friday\u2019s semifinal matchup, when he set an IHSA Class 4A shooting record; before any game this season in which the bespectacled Evanston sophomore terrorized nets and opposing coaches alike; and even before he racked up SportsCenter\u2019s top play and an ESPY award nomination as a 15-year-old freshman, Blake Peters went through his routine.<\/p>\n He rises promptly at 5:30 a.m.– before the sun appears and well before the morning bell for class rings. He then drives to pick up his assistant coach and trainer, Stacey Moragne. Groggy and grumpy at the 16-year-old’s insistence on waking him up this early, Moragne said he typically stumbles into the passenger seat and the two talk shop. They arrive at Evanston\u2019s old-school Beardsley gymnasium with a plan, and depending on whether Blake will see man or zone defense that night, begin their scripted regimen. In order to keep up some blistering efficiency numbers, Peters needs to see the ball go through the net starting 13 hours before tipoff.<\/p>\n As he disregards the rim and instead scorches the net over and over again, there’s an uncommon focus and discipline in his teenage eyes that peer out through Kareem-styled goggles. But then again, there\u2019s little common about Blake Peters.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of my friends back in middle and elementary school would talk about things that have no meaning, like video games,\u201d Peters said. \u201cLike who cares? And they\u2019re talking about gossip and all this. It\u2019s never mattered to me.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve just never had time for all of that because it\u2019s always been about basketball and school. If [I\u2019m] not getting those two things done, there is something wrong with [my] life.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He prefers mature, adult conversations to high school hallway banter. He prefers brushing up on world history to Friday night Fortnite sessions. Aside from a great grandfather who flew planes in WWII, he doesn\u2019t have any military background that might precede such structure and tidiness at his age. This is just the way he is.<\/p>\n The seeds of that old soul and quick release were planted early on thanks to the direction of his father, Ashley Peters. Starting in Kindergarten, Ashley would take his son to a nearby school to shoot around. Even then the former player, who had college basketball aspirations himself, corrected Blake\u2019s form — sometimes to the point where the youngster would run and hide in bushes out of frustration. However, those kinds emotional outbursts were infrequent for the stoic star.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s always been a reserved kid,\u201d Ashley said. \u201cA reserved personality, kind of emotionless in a way. We raised him never to get too high or too low regardless of whether you play good or play bad.\u201d<\/p>\n By third grade, Blake was tagging alongside his father to the gym everyday. His work habits were being ingrained, but so was a genuine love for the game and its grind.<\/p>\n “If he hadn’t done that,” Blake said, “I wouldn’t be here.”<\/p>\n A year later, Blake and his father traveled to Akron, Ohio to compete in a LeBron James AAU tournament. With the best player in the world roaming the property, it was then that Ashley realized his son was capable of handling basketball\u2019s biggest stages.<\/p>\n \u201cI just remember him not being at all intimidated by the moment,\u201d Ashley said. \u201cHe was just unflappable.\u201d<\/p>\n To this day, if dad sees a glitch in his son\u2019s silky release, he\u2019ll still call it out. Before Friday night\u2019s state semifinal against Rockford East, he stumbled across a picture online of his son taken during Evanston\u2019s Thursday shootaround.<\/p>\n \u201cHis form was absolutely atrocious,\u201d Ashley said. \u201cI texted him and said \u2018Your follow through is wrong, your elbow is crooked, you\u2019re falling back. You need to fix that before tomorrow night.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The message was received: 7-for-8 from three, a game-high 27 points, player of the game honors and a 4A playoff record for made 3-pointers in a game. After years of meticulous preparation, the results weren\u2019t a shock for the Peters family.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery time he shoots the ball the wrong way, I have to correct him,\u201d Ashley said. \u201cIf he does it wrong 100 times, that means correcting him 100 times. Before that game, I told him it\u2019s not a question of being on or off. It\u2019s a question of whether you remember to shoot the ball the right way every time.\u201d<\/p>\n Half: @ETHSports<\/a> leads @ERABnation<\/a> @NBCSPreps<\/a> 48-29. Evanston\u2019s Blake Peters is 5 out of 6 from beyond the arc. @ILPrepsInsider<\/a> @NBCSPreps<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/hg79zuFTIa<\/a><\/p>\n — Jack Lydon (@JackLydon63) March 15, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nMedill Reports<\/em><\/p>\n\n