Richie Rodger has led his school to national glory.
He has drilled a three-pointer on the buzzer to tie the scores for his Dunedin club side the Bombers and then almost singled-handedly won the game in overtime.
He has represented Otago at age-group level since he was a 10-year-old and has also played junior basketball for New Zealand.
Now the 17-year-old wants to play college basketball in the United States.
''It is a big goal of mine [to play college basketball] and then, hopefully, go on to represent the Tall Blacks,'' Rodger said.
Based on his effort in his last match, the colleges should be scrambling to sign the Kavanagh College point guard.
Rodger (1.87m) poured in 29 points, grabbed 19 rebounds, made five assists, three blocks and one steal in the final of the smaller school secondary school championships last week.
The MVP's mammoth effort ensured Kavanagh beat the defending champion, Oamaru's St Kevin's, 64-56.
It all makes for a pretty impressive curriculum vitae when you intend to apply for those sought-after US scholarships.
''When I saw the stats after the game, I was pretty surprised.''
He was expected to feature heavily on the score sheet but to take 19 rebounds was quite some effort.
''I was pretty determined. We were getting out-rebounded the whole tournament, so I made it my wee mission to try get as many as I could get, I guess.''
Rodger made the Otago under-13 team when he was 10 and has been a regular feature in Otago age-group teams since.
In eight appearances for his club this season he has averaged 13.8 points and had a standout game of 27 points.
He has also been selected in New Zealand age-group teams for the past three years and made two appearances for the Otago Nuggets in the National Basketball League this year.
Being able to train alongside the likes of former Tall Black Mark Dickel had been inspiring.
''[Dickel] has been a huge help. He has taught me heaps about the point guard position and I think he is probably one of the main reasons why Otago schools did so well at the nationals, with all the effort he put into us.''
Kavanagh was not the only school to enjoy success at the nationals.
Otago Boys' High School won the elite secondary school championships and King's High School placed 21st.
Otago Girls' High School and St Hilda's Collegiate also represented the region at the elite tournament.
