Nashua North's Luke Peters celebrates a layup by teammate Robinson Rodriguez, center, in the fourth quarrter of the Battle of the Bridge vs. Nashua South two months ago at Titans Gym. (Telegraph file photo by TOM KING)

It’s pretty easy to picture that Nashua High School North junior Luke Peters sleeps with a football cradled in one arm and a basketball in another.

Who knows, maybe a baseball or softball in between his feet. A ball. Any kind of ball, because he always seems to be around one.

Peters made plenty take notice during the Titans football season, with pick sixes almost being routine. On offense he wanted the ball and ran well with it; on defense he was always around it.

And now in basketball, it’s there, bouncing in front of him. And the odds are he’ll grab it if the whistle doesn’t blow. Pinkerton Academy will certainly find that out on Sunday when the No. 3, 17-4 Titans take on the top ranked Astros (19-1) in the Division I boys finals at 4 p.m. at the University of New Hampshire’s Lundholm Gym.

One could argue that Peters’ efforts and time on the floor directly relate to North’s 13-game winning streak. But it was a slow start for him this season.

“It was just tough coming straight from football into basketball season, no workouts, no nothing,” Peters said. “I picked it up pretty quickly, it took me a little while to gain (Coach Steve) Lane’s trust to put me on the court,and I totally agree with that.”

How did he gain that trust? “Just ball handle, high IQ moments, hitting my shot better in practice,” he said.

Oh, he’s got that trust fully now, mainly because of his defensive acumen. He got the job of holding down Bedford sharpshooter Luke Soden the other night and held him to a paltry 14 points.

“He did an unbelievable job, quite an accomplishment, almost an impossible accomplishment,” Lane said. “(Peters) is an unbelievable high school player, one of the best we’ve had around here in awhile. He, at 5-8, fears nobody. Nobody.”

“That shows that Lane trusts me a lot, and I have to live up to his expectations,” Peters said. “Luke Soden’s a great player. He had a tough night, but that shouldn’t show you how he actually plays. He does have the height advantage, that was tough.”

What’s Peters’ mindset in that situation? After all, at 5-foot-9, everyone pretty much has that over him on a basketball court.

“Limit him from the ball as much as you can,” he said. “Just faceguard him. Don’t let him get it. I don’t want to say he carries the team, but he has a big role and if you take that role away from him, the team, they look a little sloppy out there.”

Peters is Lane’s type of player – a defensive, the ball is his type. “He pushes us so much,” Peters said. “I love him as a coach. He’s a great coach.”

Peters has played basketball all along during his youth sports days that he’s played football, but admits “Football has my heart more.”

And his head, because that’s where those aggressive on-the-court instincts come from.

“I definitely picked up that habit from football,” Peters said. “It’s just a mindset. I love being tough. This sport, it might not be too much for me because I’m so aggressive, but I definitely picked that up from football. … I just love to work hard.”

The stamina, the intensity during a game also helps Peters between the two sports.

Lane knows Peters sets the Titans’ defensive tone. After they ralled from being down a point at halftime to beat Windham by 10 in the quarterfinals, the North coach said, “The Luke Peters Crew showed up in the second half. Just guarding.”

So, be warned. If you’re standing around Luke Peters anywhere and are holding a ball in your hands, it won’t be yours for long.

CAMPBELL HOCKEY KIDS CONTRIBUTE

The Pembroke-Campbell Division III boys hockey co-op is in the championship game for the first time since it was formed about a decade ago. The driving force behind it was then Pembroke Academy athletic director Suzanne Klink, a former member of the Nashua athletic department who sadly passed away from cancer in 2019.

Its longtime coach has been Marc Noel,

Campbell senior Declan Sullivan is one of the team’s top penalty killers.

“Declan is amazing,” Noel said. “He’s my PK specialist. He’s one of those guys where he loves doing that kind of stuff (penalty killing). He actually got a shorty the other night (in the 5-0 semis win over Kearsarge-Plymouth) which was fun.”

Another huge key is 6-1, 195 pound senior Patrick Sullivan. “He’s the backbone of our defense,” Noel said. “He’s a big kid, solid, and on our power play I changed things up a bit (in the semis) and put him up at forward and said ‘Your job is to stand in front of the goaltender’s face.’

“He did exactly what I asked, it worked out well. He’s a great kid, works hard. Fairly soft-spoken, but comes with a big hammer.”

Junior defenseman Noah Reed “is our fireplug.’ We rely on him heavily.”

Noel’s Spartan-Cougars lost twice to Berlin, 3-2, and one of just three teams to be able to score more than one on the 19-0 Mountaineers all season. The only other in Division III was Kearsarge-Plymouth (a 4-2 game) and then Division I’s Mancheste Kings, who lost 4-3.

The arguably top two goalies in the league, Berlin’s Colin Melanson and PA-C’s Liam Cripps will be going at it.

“I’ve got a few things up my sleeve for Mr. Melanson,” Noel said with a chuckle, “and we’ll leave it that.”

FINALS WEEKEND SCHEDULE

The times have been released for the eight basketball-hockey championship games for this weekend, with hoop on Sunday and hockey Saturday. Remember, the girls hoop finals were moved from Saturday to Sunday at UNH as the Wildcats are hosting an America East men’s basketball quarterfinal on Saturday at 3 p.m.

Sunday’s schedule has the Division II girls final between Concord Christian and Pembroke Academy at 10 a.m., followed by the Division II boys finals between Pelham and Hanover at 1 p.m. After that, it’s North-Pinkerton boys in Division I at 4 p.m., with the Bedford-Pinkerton girls matchup to end the day and the winter season at 7 p.m.

Saturday in hockey at SNHU Arena, the Oyster River-Portsmouth and Hanover girls skate at 10 a.m., with the e Division II boys final between Oyster River and Spaulding at 12:15 p.m. The Division III Pembroke-Campbell vs. Berlin-Gorham game is 2:45 p.m., followed by the final hockey game of the season, Windham vs. Londonderry in the Divsion I game at 5 p.m.

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