St. Patrick opened in 1861. The Northwest Side school has one of the best gyms in the state, and Mike Bailey is one of the most respected coaches in Illinois.
Until Monday, however, the Shamrocks never had won the big game. They never had advanced to the state tournament.
So it’s unlikely any alumni base in the state celebrated earning a trip to Champaign as long or as hard as St. Patrick’s community did after the Shamrocks upset Mount Carmel 49-48 in the Class 3A UIC Supersectional.
‘‘It means so much for our school and our coaches,’’ St. Patrick senior Nevaeh Hawkins said. ‘‘We appreciate that big crowd for coming out. I want to thank all of them, and I’m so glad we were able to give this to them.’’
The Caravan were a Super 25 fixture this season with three All-City players in seniors Grant Best and Cameron Thomas and junior Noah Mister. The Shamrocks spent most of the season outside the rankings and didn’t have an All-City player.
‘‘It feels great to be the first team in school history to make it downstate,’’ St. Patrick guard EJ Breland said. ‘‘We played through a lot of hard times this season, but we didn’t care about the outside noise and what other people were saying. We knew this was a special group and that we could do it.’’
The Shamrocks lost in the supersectionals last season.
‘‘When we lost this game last year, [Bailey] said we would do it this year,’’ Breland said. ‘‘And that was correct.’’
Mount Carmel (29-6) led by three after a three-pointer by Mister with 5:36 left, but St. Patrick (28-7) took control with a 7-0 run in the final two minutes. Hawkins provided the big moment with a steal and layup that put the Shamrocks ahead 46-41 with a minute left.
A free throw by Anthony Favia with six seconds left put St. Patrick ahead 49-45 and turned out to be necessary because Mister made a three-pointer for the Caravan just before the buzzer.
RJ McPartlin led the Shamrocks with 12 points and eight rebounds. Favia added 10 points and Hawkins nine to go with seven rebounds.
‘‘We really felt if we could rebound with them, we would have a great chance of upsetting them,’’ Bailey said. ‘‘That was the key.’’
Breland scored only six points, but his leadership and steady presence has led the team to Champaign. Several of St. Patrick’s best players had transferred to other schools for their senior seasons in recent years.
‘‘Everybody was calling EJ’s mom and dad,’’ Bailey said. ‘‘They made it very clear that he is going to graduate from St. Patrick High School at Holy Name Cathedral. It’s refreshing.’’
Mister led Mount Carmel with 22 points, and Thomas finished with 12. The Caravan lost to DePaul Prep in the Class 3A championship game last season.
The Shamrocks should bring a big crowd to Champaign. Bailey’s coaching tree is sizable and includes Waukegan’s Ron Ashlaw and St. Ignatius’ Matt Monroe.
‘‘This was not about me,’’ said Bailey, who has coached St. Patrick for 30 years. ‘‘It’s for the school.
‘‘I can’t begin to tell you what this means to our alums, our student body and obviously our team and our parents.’’
The Shamrocks will face Brother Rice, a 60-41 winner against Peoria, in the state semifinals Thursday.