Calvert Hall lacrosse player Timmy Kelly is talented and tough. The Lutherville resident, who will play at the University of North Carolina next season, found out in mid-April he was playing with two fractured vertebrae in his back and has tendinitis in both knees and in his Achilles' tendon.
Last season, he played with cracked ribs.
The senior attackman, who is 5 feet 11, 185 pounds, has missed some practices, but he hasn't missed a game in two years.
Kelly, who is ranked by Inside Lacrosse as the second-best recruit for the class of 2015, acknowledges it has been difficult.
"It's been tough sleeping," said Kelly, who also has been bothered by a hamstring injury this year. "It's a pain thing. As long as I can take the pain, I can play. I take about six Advil a day and go home and ice my knees for a couple of hours.
"As a competitor, you never can give into things when a doctor says you can play."
One of the things that motivates Kelly to keep going is the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference championship.
Calvert Hall appeared to be in good shape to make the playoffs before a 12-11 overtime loss to Gilman on April 29 and a 10-8 setback to McDonogh two days later.
Now, Calvert Hall needs to beat archrival Loyola Blakefield (No. 1 team in The Sun's boys high school lacrosse poll) Tuesday, and McDonogh has to beat Gilman the same day for the Cardinals to clinch the sixth and final seed.
"Hopefully, we can make a run in the playoffs and that would define my senior year more than anything," Kelly said.
Kelly thinks the sacrifice has been worth it.
"Probably last year I might have sat out," he said. "People need to see someone who can be tough mentally and physically and play through stuff. If you can take the pain, you just keep going."
Even with the injuries, Kelly has remained a dominant player.
He has a team-high 91 points (57 goals, 34 assists) for Calvert Hall after totaling 48 goals and 39 assists last year.
Kelly, 18, had four goals and four assists in a 15-14 victory over defending league champion Boys' Latin on April 7, and he finished with four goals and two assists in a victory over Mount St. Joseph two weeks later.
"There's a lot of kids that wouldn't play with what he has played with," said Calvert Hall coach Bryan Kelly, who is also Timmy's uncle. "But he's playing incredibly well. He's carrying us right now."
Opponents are giving Kelly more attention than ever. When he gets the ball, he is often double- and triple-teamed.
Another tactic rivals use is to put their best and quickest defender on Kelly to deny him the ball.
"Everybody's game plan is to stop Timmy," Bryan Kelly said. "He's been getting shut off and teams do everything they can to not let him get the ball. Still, he's averaging at least seven points per game. He is fearless. When he goes to the goal, there are times when he gets lit up and crushed."
The coach said that his nephew is one of the best players Calvert Hall has ever produced.
The four-year starter has 269 career points, carries a 4.0 grade-point average and chose North Carolina over Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland.
"He is a special athlete," said Bryan Kelly, who has been coaching at Calvert Hall since 1992. "He's big, has great explosiveness and speed and is a very, very hard worker. He's very disciplined in his body and how he takes care of it."
Loyola Blakefield senior and University of Virginia recruit Ryan Conrad said Kelly's biggest asset is his determination.
"He wants to win more than anybody," said Conrad, who is one of Kelly's closest friends and is the nation's top senior recruit, according the Inside Lacrosse. "He is one of the most competitive kids that I know. The way he plays through injuries is the perfect example of that."
Conrad is amazed Kelly is playing this spring.
"I have talked to him about it, and, frankly, I am baffled that he can be standing, let alone be playing on the field," he said. "It's crazy. It's a testament to how hard he plays and how much of a warrior he is on the field."