LENNOX — In the 2021-22 season, Lennox coach Adam Quail moved then-eighth grader Andie Peters into the starting lineup — and never looked back.

“We had some good years there, and then we knew we were going to need scoring after we graduated quite a few,” Quail said. “So we pulled up a young, shrimpy eighth-grader Andie Peters and the first game she played she was knocking down threes.”

Peters, who was then a 5-foot-4 eighth-grader, helped the Orioles steadily climb up the Class A ranks the past five seasons. They went 12-10 in 2021-22, followed by two 16-win seasons and a 14-8 season in 2024-25. 

However, a Class A girls basketball tournament berth was missing during Peters’ five-year varsity career. That was until this season when Peters and Lennox captured the school’s first girls basketball state championship since 1988 on Saturday in Watertown.  

“It’s our first time being here as a whole team and we came in and won,” Peters said. “We weren’t supposed to win. We were the underdogs and it feels really good.”

Peters hit just one 3-pointer through the first two games of the state tournament, and totaled only six points until Saturday’s game. Peters, however, delivered when Lennox needed her the most.  

In the state championship, Peters hit five of Lennox’s six 3-pointers and scored 15 points in a 65-51 win over Mahpiya Luta, sparking a key 28-14 third-quarter spurt.  

“I am so happy Andie got to end on a game like this,” Quail said. “She really got keyed on in the first two games, as she should, she is our leading scorer, and the teams are taking her away. We knew vs. Mahpiya Luta she was going to get looks because they’re in a zone and as seniors do, as Andie Peters usually does, she steps up and hits big shots. I am proud of her.”

Afterward, Peters admitted it was bittersweet knowing it was her final high school basketball game. But there was nothing better than going out on top. 

“I was a little sad,” Peters said about her final game. “Last game, I didn’t know how it was going to end. Either way I was glad. We were in the championship. So I knew first or second, but it’s always sad it’s the last game of your season no matter what.”

Peters, Izzy Vargas and Mia Hanisch are the lone seniors on the Lennox roster, which also features four juniors, four sophomores and four freshmen. Lennox freshman Tori Gerdes said Peters presence was invaluable to the upstart Orioles. 

“She really helped us,” Gerdes said. “She gave us the confidence to win and also kept our heads up.” 

But Peters said the young Orioles will continue to be a force again next season. 

“It’s going to be great for them,” Peters said. “I hope they come back. I hope they keep winning.” 

Peters will play college basketball at Dakota Wesleyan University and Quail she will fit in nicely with the Tigers.  

“She is a basketball junkie,” Quail said. “She does all the little things that you need. She will do great.”