E.J. Kelly, St. Francis, Sr.: A CIF state qualifier each of the last three seasons, Kelly will return for his senior year as the leader of St. Francis High’s cross country team and a bigger contributor for the school’s basketball team.
In cross country, Kelly, who holds a grade point average well above 4.0, placed seventh at the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League Championships, third at the Central Coast Section Division V Championships and 29th at the CIF D-V Championships.
In the winter, Kelly moved into the starting point guard spot a year after providing good minutes off the bench for the school’s historic basketball team. He did a little bit of everything in the new role, averaging 6.5 points, 4.8 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game. He earned a spot on the All-SCCAL Second Team and helped the Sharks advance to the CCS D-V semifinals.
With St. Francis graduating its two top scorers from last year’s hoops team, Kelly will be asked to do more in the Sharks’ first season in the Pacific Coast Athletic League. They will compete in the Mission division with Christopher High, Alvarez High, Pacific Grove High, San Benito High and Seaside High.
Editor’s Note: 20 athletes in 20 days is a daily series that will highlight one local high school athlete per day leading up to the start of 2018-19 school year.
