He was pretty quiet all night long but with 7.6 seconds left in regulation time, he made more noise then most kids do during regular class time.
When the 2011 Yorkton Elementary School Sports Association (YESSA) boys' basketball championship finals got underway, the Yorkdale Central Royals basketball team put themselves up on top and it looked like they were going to stay there.
The whole St. Michael's team was silent throughout the opening half but when crunch time came, they came.
But centre Peter Kozushka had something to say about that and it caused the biggest eruption of the entire three-day tournament.
"It was big," he said, following his St. Michael's Stars 28-24 victory which needed five minutes of overtime to determine the winner. In the dying moments of regulation time, he sunk a shot from the paint with 7.6 seconds remaining in the game and tied the game, bringing his team back to even terms for the first time all night long.
The giant from St. Mike's, who is like a pint-sized, caucasian version of the NBA's Shaquille O'Neal by comparison to every other player on the floor, took his shot from two feet away from the basket.
He had a bunch of other shots from the paint. None of them went in, but the one that mattered most sure did.
As the ball dropped into the net, the stands erupted like the Saskatchewan Roughriders just scored a critical touchdown in a playoff game.
"It was good. We had to play a full game," he said, a little out of breath following the little 'mugging' he got from his teammates not five minutes earlier.
"You can't give up," he told the paper after his teammates helped him seal the deal in overtime.
Kozushka admitted after his team had won it, he didn't want to take too much of the credit.
"I'm humble."
As for the comeback, which started early in the second half, Kozushka's St. Mike's team was taking quite the beating for most of regulation time. The Yorkdale Central lead of 14-8 started quickly, but St. Mike's made their comeback in front of a good sized crowd on their own court two days before Good Friday.
"It was tremendous," observed St. Mike's coach Lou Ellert, who watched his team suffer more downs then ups, but just on time, they woke up like it was the last day of school before the summer holidays.
Ellert said it was actually more an amazing showcase of the sport at one of the youngest age levels on the chart. He said he was quite pleased with what transpired there that day.
"It was a real showcase for basketball," he said, adding "it gives them a real taste of it."
Ellert said it's good for them to be able to play high-intensity sports in front of a large cheering crowd.
"They get to see if they like it."
He noted that it was a dismal first half for his team as they were outscored and outplayed, but added that it all came together when it mattered most.
St. Mike's chipped away at the deficit and even they probably couldn't believe it when they sent it into overtime.
"They're not used to being in front of a big crowd," he suggested.
