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St. Patrick’s lost two games in two days over the weekend by a combined 8 points.
The Celtics fell to St. Anthony’s, 60-56, on Saturday in the Dan Finn Classic in Jersey City. After traveling up to Springfield, Mass., on Sunday, St. Pat’s then lost a tough one to La Lumiere (IN), 62-58, in OT because junior Brian Bowen went off for 29 points.
So on Tuesday night, the Celtics got a visit from a special guest.
Former St. Pat’s star and current Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving spoke to the players at his old school — including his good friend, Harvard-bound point guard Bryce Aiken — and provided some inspirational words. Irving, in the area because the Cavs visit the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday, then sat behind the team’s bench as the Celtics beat Rahway High School.
“We needed something to life our spirits,” St. Pat’s coach Chris Chavannes said. “He spoke to the team about his experience coming to St. Pat’s and how hard the adjustment was and how it prepared him. We won in what had to have been one of the uglier games played by anyone this year.”
Irving was the No. 1 pick in the 2011 NBA Draft out of Duke. His former St. Pat’s teammate Michael Kidd-Gilchrist was the No. 2 pick in 2012 out of Kentucky. Both played for former St. Pat’s coach Kevin Boyle, now at Montverde (FL) Academy, where he coached projected No. 1 pick Ben Simmons.
Now coached by Chavannes and former Rutgers coach Mike Rice, St. Pat’s was ranked No. 7 in the nation by MaxPreps before their two losses.
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