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A Shooting Comet Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Crater's Derek Petersen is shooting 46 percent from the floor in 15 games. Crater's Derek Petersen has fueled the boys basketball team's drive into playoff contention in the SOC By DON HUNT Mail Tribune The Comets rallied from a 25-point deficit to defeat Crescent Valley of Corvallis, 65-61, in their season-opener and then edged South Eugene, 70-65, in overtime the following night in the championship game of a holiday tournament. Along the way, senior guard Derek Petersen drilled 10 3-point baskets - four against Crescent Valley and six against South Eugene. Neither Petersen nor the Comets have cooled off much in their quest for a state playoff berth. Petersen has ruffled the nets for 45 treys in Crater's first 15 games, and at 10-5 overall and 3-2 in the Southern Oregon Conference, the Comets are off to their best start in five years. "I came out shooting well those first two games and my confidence just skyrocketed," says Petersen, who is on pace to break the single-season school record for 3-pointers. "Last season I'd quit shooting if I missed a couple, but now I just shoot my way out of slumps." Petersen hasn't been in many prolonged dry spells, however. He's shooting 40 percent from 3-point range and is hitting at a 46 percent clip overall. Petersen is also averaging 15.9 points per game - the fourth-best scoring average in the SOC. Not too shabby for a three-sport athlete whose best sport is baseball. "Derek has a swagger about him that he didn't have last year (in basketball)," Crater coach Matt Meunier says. "He's more confident as a shooter and a player. "He also has a quicker release and his range has improved - and that just adds to his ability to make 3's." Petersen and 6-foot-5 junior post Andrew Norum, who averages 14.8 points per game, comprise one of the most potent scoring tandems in the SOC. But what makes the Comets even more difficult to defend is that almost everyone in their starting lineup - not to mention sixth man Chris Pettegrew - is capable of reaching double figures on any night. "This is the best team I've had and also the funnest to coach," says Meunier, now in his fifth season as the Comets head coach. "All five guys we put on the floor can score and, just as importantly, all five like to share the ball. "I've never had a team that passes like this one. The team chemistry is great." Petersen says the Comets badly want to make the playoffs - something that hasn't happened since the 1997-98 season, Meunier's first as head coach. "We've got nine seniors on this team and we all realize that this is it for us," Petersen says. "We've been together for a long time and we know what it takes to win." For Petersen, Norum and Pettegrew, much of that winning attitude comes from the baseball diamond. Petersen was a first-team, all-conference pitcher for the Comets last spring when they advanced to the Class 4A state semifinals. "You've got to get in those pressure situations in order to be comfortable with them," Petersen says. "And we're comfortable with them because we've been there." Petersen concentrated on baseball last summer and rarely found time to hook up with the basketball team, a scenario Meunier didn't fight. "All it did was make him a better competitor in whatever sport he plays," Meunier says. "When he's facing a full count with the bases loaded and a game on the line, that gets him ready for the two free throws he might have to make for us to win a basketball game." Derek credits his older brothers, Mike, 25, and Ryan, 22, for inspiring him to become an athlete. He wears Mike's jersey number in basketball (12) and Ryan's in baseball (16). Ryan Petersen is currently at a Cincinnati Reds tryout camp in Southern California. "Ryan was my idol growing up," says Derek, who turns 18 later this month. "We still talk on the phone a lot." That figures, because the younger Petersen knows all about dialing long distance. Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.