Phoenixville’s Kelly named Mercury All-Area POY

The first day he met his team, Phoenixville head coach Eric Burnett knew that there was something special about Christian Kelly.

Then a sophomore, Kelly crammed his 6-foot-3 frame into his desk and started rapid firing questions to the first-year coach.

His eagerness to learn, eagerness to work immediately stood out. … Something else did as well.

“When I first met Christian the day after I got hired, we were in the classroom and he raised his hand to ask a question and I felt that with his wingspan, he could touch the ceiling. I immediately saw it, just the way he was talking about the workouts and the way he was eager to get going. I knew he was going to be a player.’

How impactful of a player, was the real surprise.

Kelly went off his junior season, averaging 21.9 points per game and helped lead the Phantoms to their best overall record since 2009, a PAC-10 Final Four appearance and a berth into the District 1-AAAA playoffs in the team’s first season in the Class AAAA classification.

For that, Kelly is named the 2014-2015 Mercury All-Area Boys Basketball Player of the Year.

“I feel really honored,’ Kelly said. “I put in a lot of hard work and sweat into this. I’m really excited for my family and they are proud for me and for Phoenixville.’

Kelly, son of Gregory Kelly and Tanya Kelly, takes home the award after Spring-Ford’s Nick Stanek won it a year prior.

“My parents play a big role. They push me to work harder, they support me at all my games. Kevin, Uncle Donnie and my parents really play a big role because they support me in a good game or bad game.’

There weren’t too many bad games for Kelly this season, who’s special year may had come as a surprise to others, but the junior — who was entrusted as the leader of the team after the Phantoms won three conference games a season prior — had laid the groundwork for success since the day Burnett met him in the classroom.

“He’s one of the types of kids that buys into everything we ask him to buy into,’ Burnett said. “We were excited seeing his workouts and work ethic. He didn’t miss a single workout. Working outside of structured workouts, the better he was getting, the more confident he was getting. It started to rub off on his teammates.’

Questions Kelly had for Burnett quickly yielded answers about his game; his leadership abilities.

Whether immersed in film study, trying to knock his mile time under six minutes or just shooting around, Kelly’s transformation was the quintessential tale of going from an afterthought — after averaging eight points a game last season — to becoming a leading threat.

It was the affirmation that blood, sweat, tears — the Hollywood depiction of what hard work should be — does get you anywhere you need to be. That sometimes Hollywood ideals do find their way into reality.

“I was constantly working out, our coaches really pushed us and really pushed me as well,’ Kelly said. “It was putting up extra shots when you don’t want to, but you have to. Running on the track, and trying to run a mile under six minutes. I always tried to push for it.’

“All our boys showed out to the workouts this summer,’ Burnett said. “They were hungry, but Christian stood out in a way that was a little bit different. Constantly asking how he could get better. He was the first person to practice, the first person to drill.’

He became the No. 1.

The No. 1 guy to go to. The No. 1 teammate. Always humble, never braggadocios. His team’s success was more important than his own. The only thing that became important was the ‘ W’ that appeared in the win column.

“He (Burnett) wanted me to be a leader for my teammates and myself,’ Kelly said. “I had to lead by example and he (Burnett) set a goal for me to be an accomplished player before the season started.

“I think it felt great to become a leader. Having that feeling to lead others, to give the team hope and to be a great leader out there was great. It gave me freedom. It put pressure on myself to do better so that my team could do better. It was a great challenge that I looked forward to.’

How accomplished he, and his team would be, became apparent early.

Already with a 6-2 record, Kelly led his team to a victory in the Marple-Newtown tournament, going off for 18 points in the team’s semifinal victory over Allentown Central Catholic before hitting for 33 in a 73-70 victory over the host in the championship game.

“We knew we had a new coach but we didn’t know how it was going to work,’ Kelly said. “The more we played, the better we played and the harder we worked. We wanted to see how far we could get in the season.

“The Marple Newton tournament was the turning point. There were some people that doubted us. I got MVP of that tournament. That boosted my confidence and our confidence. We knew we could beat all these teams no matter what type of players they had.’

Kelly’s MVP type play lit a fire the next month. The junior scored 20-plus points in 11 out of the next 12 games, highlighted by three, 30-point performances in wins over Owen J. Roberts, Pottstown and Pope John Paul II.

The Phantoms’ record in those 12 games?

A solid 9-3 with losses coming to eventual PAC-10 Champion Methacton, Pottsgrove and Academy Park … not exactly a cakewalk.

The true testament to Kelly’s character came on a date with Methacton in the PAC-10 semifinals. Faceguarded the entire time by TJ Tornetta, Kelly dropped a season-low nine points. The end result, a 63-47 loss and a trip back to the drawing board.

“I had to watch film, study and create more moves to score,’ Kelly said.

“When Christian goes into the film, he spends hours, and that’s not an exaggeration,’ Burnett said. “He knows every player in the league and every player’s stats. He studies that stuff and I laugh about it sometimes because he knows so many things from so many different players from the league.’

His hard work paid off … again.

Kelly dropped a team-high 21 points in the team’s victory over Souderton in the District 1-AAAA opening round, the team’s first district victory at the Class AAAA qualification.

Facing Tornetta and Methacton in the second round, Kelly did find new ways to score, hitting for 18 in the team’s loss before scoring 11 in the Phantoms’ loss to Downingtown West in the playback round.

“It felt good to reach districts because we never made it that far,’ Kelly said. “This year we were on a platform of where we want to be and where we want to go. The character building between the coaches and the players really helped us.

“We had goals in our locker room on making states, PAC-10 championships and all those types of things. We came close to states. We did what we wanted to do.’

“You could see at the beginning of the season that he had talent, he was the type of kid that was using that potential to really reach his limit, reach his ceiling,’ Burnett said. “He’s a tremendous and humble kid who tries to be the best teammate and best player that he can be. I don’t think we would be nearly as successful without him.’

Now with one more year, Kelly has another chance to touch the ceiling.

A chance that he won’t pass up.