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Kamloops was represented well on the world stage on Monday night.
Kelly Olynyk, a South Kamloops Secondary School alumni, put up the performance of his basketball career to help the Boston Celtics win a must win game seven on Monday.
Olynyk put up 26 points in just 28 minutes off the bench, including 14 points in the fourth quarter, which propelled the Celtics to a 115-105 win over the Washington Wizards.
He became only the second Celtic in history to record 25 or more points off the bench in a playoffs game, the only other being Eddie House in 2009.
All in all, it was a big game performance from a player that no one was really expecting a big game performance from, but for Kamloops natives this is nothing new.
Kelly Olynyk is FEELING IT! 🔥🔥🔥 #Game7 pic.twitter.com/OEBd8ETtPy
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) May 16, 2017
Nearly a decade ago, Olynyk was tearing up high school basketball teams in B.C. as a member of the Titans.
His presence alone made the Titans one of the top teams in the province during his graduating year of 2009.
That season the Titans made a run to the provincial tournament at the PNE Agridome, where they’d earn a third place finish and Olynyk would be named tournament MVP.
From his stellar career at South Kamloops Secondary, Olynyk went to Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington before being drafted by the Boston Celtics.
That’s where he’s played his entire career, mostly as a role player, but if you’re a Kamloops basketball fan watching Monday night’s game seven, it surely brought back memories of Olynyk’s dominance at the high school level.
Olynyk and the Celtics now move on to face Lebron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals.
The matchup we've been waiting for pic.twitter.com/AhfRiGTEbt
— Jozen (say Joe-Zen) (@jozenc) May 16, 2017