Boys Hoops Insider: Irish stars building off of fall sports success

Brian Kelly and Calum Latham teaming together in basketball season.

Central Catholic's Brian Kelly (right), a record-setting quarterback on the football field, is averaging 18.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game for the Irish on the hardwood. Staff Photo by Barbara J. Perenic

Barbara Perenic Central Catholic's Brian Kelly (right), a record-setting quarterback on the football field, is averaging 18.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game for the Irish on the hardwood. Staff Photo by Barbara J. Perenic

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By Michael Cooper, Staff Writer 10:47 PM Monday, January 16, 2012

SPRINGFIELD — For Brian Kelly and Calum Latham, the games are the easy part of basketball season. It doesn’t get much tougher than practice for the senior duo, where they battle in drills on a daily basis.

“We’ll go at it,” Latham said. “We both want to be the best. It helps out on both sides of the floor.”

“He’s hurt my shoulder a couple times,” Kelly said. “It’s all fun though.”

Kelly, the quarterback on the football team, and Latham, an All-American forward on the Isoccer team, are two of the greatest fall sports athletes in school history.

On the basketball floor, the duo is helping the Irish (8-3) become one of the top basketball teams in the area. Kelly is averaging 18.0 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.5 steals, while Latham is averaging 13 points, 7.2 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 4.1 steals and 1.3 blocks per game.

Kelly broke nearly every school passing record during his career and was named the Division VI co-offensive player of the year after throwing 42 touchdown passes. Latham finished his career as the all-time leading scorer in Ohio history with 198 goals.

Irish coach Dan Shay got an up-close and personal view of his players as the athletic director.

“It’s great to watch because they really excelled,” Shay said. “Plus, I was keeping my fingers crossed hoping nothing happened to them.”

They’ve both got experience making runs into the postseason. The Irish football team made the playoffs in three of the last four years, while the Irish soccer team made deep tournament runs, including a state final four appearance in 2010.

“Our experience in the other two sports really helps out in basketball,” Latham said. “We’re trying to get basketball to that level.”

They’ve played basketball together since fourth grade and have a good rapport.

“We click pretty well,” Kelly said. “He knows where I am at all times. He looks for me, which has helped out a lot.”

Kelly struggled with foul trouble earlier this season, but is playing smarter and staying in the game. That’s helped him increase his scoring. He had 17 points and 11 rebounds in a victory over Triad on Friday.

“I’ve been focusing on my mid-range (shooting), and that’s helped out,” Kelly said.

Kelly described Latham as “all over the court” this season, making plays on both sides of the floor.

“I’m doing the little things to try to get the big things,” Latham said.

The Irish have won two in a row since back-to-back losses to Mechanicsburg and West Liberty-Salem. They’ve also gone most of the season without their full team due to injuries and class trips. They recently got a boost from the return of injured senior Jake Aldridge.

The Irish are hoping to peak at the end of the season to make a strong run in the tournament.

“We want to keep getting better each day,” Shay said.

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