Athlete of the Week - Kaiden Peters, PEM Boys Basketball

PLAINVIEW, Minn. (KTTC) –With 1.7 seconds left, Kaiden Peters had faith and a clean look.

“I had confidence in it going in, yeah,” Kaiden Peters said.

“That was like the craziest thing I’ve ever experienced,” Aeron Stevens, Kaiden’s teammate said.

Tied at 55 with top seeded and second ranked Lake City, Peters sent PEM to the state tournament with a three-point from the top of the key.

“I was shocked instantly obviously. I was thinking about you know last year it was heartbreak and this year it was just like perfect,” Peters said.

That heartbreak was a triple overtime loss in the section title game against Caledonia.

“We’ve had a chip on our shoulder since that night coming into this year we always thought state or bust.”

Now it’s definitely state, thanks to Kaiden’s heroics and to think an ankle injury suffered in February almost sidelined him for the rest of the season.

“Three weeks ago, we thought he was done, we really did. We didn’t think we’d have him for sections it wasn’t looking good,” PEM Head Coach Jason Herber said.

“It was hard at first, but I had the mentality that I want to come back and finish out the season,” Peters said.

“For him to have that moment and hit that shot with everything he’s been through it was just so special. It was like a storybook ending for a kid that deserves it,” Herber said.

Its not the first time Kaiden’s done this either you only have to go back to this year’s football section semifinal to find another clutch play.

“He lives for those moments I guess, he just delivers every time,” Stevens said.

“Just trust, trust the team, trust my guys, trust the abilities for me to do those things,” Peters said.

Now the team has him back at full strength.

“Him on the floor, calms the other four down. They just feel better when Kaiden’s on the floor. Each game throughout the section, he got healthier and he got better and it just relaxes the other guys,” Herber said.

The Bulldogs are ready to take a bite out of state, just like the 2012 team that won it all.

“We’ve been together since like third grade and I don’t just the chemistry has been building and building, we’re all best friends. We put in a lot of work, we’re very competitive and with that like it just follows into games,” Peters said.

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