Evanston Wildkits full-court shot ‘best moment' of freshman's life

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Blake Peters didn’t want the ball to come to him. But life came at him fast. 2.6 seconds to be exact.

His team, the Evanston Wildkits, were down by two points late in the fourth quarter against Maine South. The Hawks had a chance to make it a three point game with a free throw. The shot was missed—and naturally, the ball ricocheted right to him. Peters captured the rebound and launched a prayer. It resulted in one of the craziest endings in recent Illinois high school basketball memory.

“I didn’t want that responsibility of shooting the shot,” Peters said. “I just told myself to shoot it. And actually, it looked good when I saw it...and then when it went in, I was shocked. It was probably the best moment of my life.”

Peters, a freshman, drilled an 80-foot, one-handed game winner to give his Wildkits a 45-44 win over conference foe Maine South. It sent the home crowd at Beardsley Gymnasium into a frenzy. The ensuing social media buzz, which included acknowledgment from Sports Illustrated and ESPN’s “SportsCenter” just to name a few, catapulted Peters into the viral stratosphere.

In this interview, Peters takes us back to a moment he’ll treasure indefinitely.

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