North Hall’s Adam Kelly is known for his skills on the baseball diamond, but this season for the Trojans’ basketball team, he has proven that he has what it takes on the hardwood as well.

According to coach Benjie Wood, Kelly leads the team in rebounds and free throws, but it isn’t the individual numbers that make him an asset to the Trojans.

“He really doesn’t play a lot of basketball. He just does whatever it takes to win,” Wood said. “He leads by example. He goes out and sacrifices the body.

“He’s willing to be a team player, which is such a great example for the rest of the team.”

In some games, Kelly scores upward of 30 points. In others, he scores as few as two, but Wood believes he is a key member of this North Hall team (17-2, 8-1 Region 7-AAA) in either situation because of his attitude.

“He contributes in every phase of the game,” Wood said. “Scoring 33 or two, you can’t tell a difference in his mannerisms. He’s a kid that plays hard every time he’s out there.”

Kelly added that his individual stats aren’t at the forefront of his mind when he’s on the court.

“It doesn’t really matter to me if I score a lot as long as we’re winning and the team is playing good,” Kelly said.

In two region wins last week, Kelly put up 31 points against East Hall and 14 against White County.

For his efforts, Kelly is The Times Boys Athlete of the Week.

“I really didn’t know throughout those games that I was scoring that much,” Kelly said. “I just figured it out afterward.”

Kelly isn’t always a scorer, but against teams like East Hall, which guards the outside well, he gets his chance to shine.

“East Hall takes away the 3-point shot which opens up more shots for Adam,” Wood said.

“I haven’t really always been much of a scorer, but I figured the team would benefit from that this year,” Kelly said. “I just try to go with the flow.”

Going with the flow is very much Kelly’s personality, Wood noted, but although Kelly is a quiet, laid-back person off the court, his play speaks volumes during games or practices.

“His play is not quiet,” Wood said. “Adam’s a really good athlete. He’s a great pitcher in baseball.

“He jumps really well. He comes out and plays with the fire and energy of a warrior. He’s a better athlete than he looks like. He has met and surpassed all of our expectations.”

Kelly is committed to play baseball for Georgia Southern next year, but he is just as calm about his future in college sports as he is during one of the Trojans’ games, partially due to the training he has received while on the basketball team.

“In college, I’ll have to go to conditioning during the fall,” Kelly said, “and I’ve heard how hard it’s going to be, but it won’t be as hard as basketball practice has been over the years, so it’s just another bump in the road.”

With his dedication, scoring ability, and team-first mindset, Kelly is valuable to North Hall as they head into the final stretch of the season, but he believes there are few things more valuable to this team than chemistry.

“We are filled with seniors, and we’ve played together since seventh grade, so we know what each of us is thinking,” Kelly said. “We play off of each other real well.”

For this group of seniors, they only have one goal: making it to the state tournament. Kelly doesn’t have any individual goals, just ones for the team.

“They’re all set for the team,” he said. “We’re just going to try to make it into the state tourney and see how it goes from there.”