Whether it’s on the court, in the classroom, or preparing for her future, it’s all business for Becky Peters.##M:[more]##
The High School South senior girls’ basketball guard, who hit her career 1,”000th point in the team’s game against Hopewell Valley on January 11, certainly is focused on getting the job done. She’s also looking forward to beginning her college career at Fordham next year, where she was accepted into the college’s business school.
While basketball is certainly high on the list of priorities for the Plainsboro resident, “business is what I want to do,” she says. “It’s the number one thing.”
Still, she remains as focused as ever, helping to lead her team to an eight-game winning streak, with a record of 11-2. “I definitely want to be remembered,” she says.
Heading into the 1,”000 point milestone game, she says reaching the achievement wasn’t on her mind, even though she knew it was a possibility. Rather, she was focused on “playing my game,” when Coach Lisa Guarneri yelled out to her, “Two more!”
Needless to say, Peters was able to dump the ball in soon after. “Everyone was hugging me,” Peters recalls. “It was definitely a cool feeling,” including the outburst from the crowd, even though it was an away game. “It really made you feel like you were doing something special.”
Peters has filled the role as a leader for the team throughout her career at South. But this year, she’s also got some help from other key players, like Liz Huttner. Peters says it’s good to know “my teammates have started to create for themselves.”
“I can score 13 to 14 points, and another one of my teammates steps up and scores,” Peters says. “It’s not like I have to do everything. It’s really nice to know that I can pass, and the assist will be finished.”
Having that trust combined with the fact she had less pressure on her coming into the season, since she signed to go to Fordham ahead of time, has given her a chance to try new things when it comes to her game, including her passing.
Still, “I’m not trying to do anything fancy,” she says. “I have to make sure those passes get to my teammates. I can’t be fooling around, having to pass a foot off. I’ve got to make sure I get those passes down.”
That determination is characteristic for Peters, who has had strong influences throughout her life. One of them is her father, Kevin, a retired guidance counselor and teacher for many years, who has always pushed her to do well on the court.
She says ever since she began playing basketball, he would offer constructive criticism, such as congratulating her on a good play, but would follow it with a question about why she didn’t do something else. “He doesn’t give me the sweet stuff,” she said. “He gives me the stuff I need to hear. He’s never been my basketball coach, but he’s one of the best basketball coaches I ever had,” she added.
While her mother, Corinne, an artist, is not all that into sports, “she’s definitely an equal influence on me like my father is, just in different ways.”
Peters also has five siblings, including her sister Catherine, the youngest in the family, who is in seventh grade at Grover Middle School, and two younger brothers, Thomas and John, who are freshmen at High School South. She has two older brothers — David, a freshman at West Virginia University, and James, who attends Mercer County Community College.
Another major influence on her life is one of her former coaches, Stephen Wiener, who died this fall. In 1998, he founded and coached the Lady Hawks Woman’s Basketball League in West Windsor. “He’s probably one of the best literal coaches I’ve had on the court,” Peters said. “He was such a good guy. I knew he would have been the first in there with me,” when she was honored for reaching the 1,”000-point milestone, she said.
As Peters heads into the rest of the season, she says she is gaining more confidence. At the same time, she is excited to be headed to Fordham. Peters says she’s already gotten to know all of the girls on the Fordham team, and only one of them is graduating this year. “I know I’m going to be having a lot of fun,” she says of Fordham.
But with the fun comes working hard on and off the court at school. One of the reasons why she chose to attend Fordham is because of its location in New York City, which she says will be good both for the social aspect, but also for its internships, which Peters plans on pursuing. Right now, Peters’ favorite class at High School South is AP Statistics because she likes dealing with raw numbers.
As for her last season with South, Peters hopes she can leave with a statement. “I would definitely like to play Trenton again,” she said, pointing to the first game of the season that ended in a loss for South against one of the top-ranked teams in the state. She says she felt she and her teammates had such a good first half, but lost it in the second. But, “I think we can definitely do something against them,” even if it’s only losing to them by two points, she said.
Peters said depending on the seeding in the Mercer County Tournament, the team may be able to get its chance. “If we beat Trenton, then we’ll probably win the Mercer County Tournament, which would be nice, too.”
