<p>Changing schools before one’s senior year requires an adjustment period, whether it’s three days or three months.</p>
<p>Derek Petersen, a starting guard for the undefeated Greenwood Christian boys basketball team, is familiar with the experience.</p>
<p>Petersen, a student at Center Grove from kindergarten through 11th grade, transferred to GCA for this school year along with his two sisters as a means to grow stronger in his faith.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]
<p>“Our family moved houses, so we moved out of the Center Grove district. We’re a Christian family and my mom has been wanting to put us into a smaller school,” the 6-foot-1 Petersen said. “For me, it was definitely tough because those were the people I had grown up with my whole life.</p>
<p>“The difference in school sizes was just so different, but GCA is great. I love it here. I saw it as a better opportunity for me to grow as a person.”</p>
<p>Used primarily on the Trojans’ undefeated junior varsity team as a junior, Petersen was a little-used reserve for the varsity team that made it to the Class 4A semistate.</p>
<p>His role is much more significant this season.</p>
<p>Petersen’s arrival helped ease the sting for GCA after longtime backcourt starters Quentin Steele and Payton Modlin graduated from a team that made it to the title game of the Martinsville Regional before losing to Bloomfield, 52-50.</p>
<p>The senior averages 14.9 points, 3 assists and 2.6 rebounds for the 9-0 Cougars, who are ranked third in Class A as the calendar flips to 2020.</p>
<p>Petersen produced double-digit point totals in five of the Cougars’ first seven games, including 23 in a 90-45 throttling of Bethesda Christian. In that game he was 5 of 8 from behind the 3-point stripe and dished nine assists.</p>
<p>Last week, he led the way with a career-high 25 points, making 7 of 10 from deep, in GCA’s 83-52 drubbing of Northeastern in the semifinal of the Bulldog Holiday Classic at Monrovia. He added 18 points in the final to help the Cougars down previously unbeaten Monrovia, 62-56.</p>
<p>“Derek is probably one of the highest-IQ players that we’ve had,” Greenwood Christian coach Jonny Marlin said. “I think you see that defensively with his active hands. He plays the gaps really, really well. Offensively, Derek can really spread the court out for us. He’s a shooter who is able to come off screens, and that’s really tough to do in high school.</p>
<p>“I think Derek is a player who can inspire others, and we’re trying to pull that out of him. When he shows emotion, I think our team really goes to the next level.”</p>
<p>Petersen is one of nine seniors on the Cougars’ roster. Most of them have known one another since they were in elementary school, but off the court and on, the new kid is fitting in quite nicely.</p>
<p>“The toughest part for me was just getting away from all the people that I knew. The familiarity. The routine,” Petersen said. “I don’t know when it was exactly, maybe the mid-term, but that’s when I really started feeling good where I was.”</p>
