Moore helps St. Patrick down DePaul Prep

St. Patrick and DePaul Prep brought their neighborhood rivalry from Chicago to Vernon Hills on Tuesday night in Class 3A boys basketball.

Behind a electrifying performance by the Shamrocks' Issac Moore, St. Patrick toppled the Rams 70-57.

St. Patrick, the No. 3 seed, will take on No. 6 Lakes on Friday night at Vernon Hills at 7 p.m.; the Eagles were an upset winner over the top-seeded Cougars.

Moore, a 6-foot-3 senior swing man, powered for 31 points on 11-of-14 shooting from the field and 5 of 8 from the free throw line against the second-seeded Rams.

"I give a lot of credit to my teammates," said Moore. "I worked to get position, but the other players found me in a good shooting position. We knew we had to be patient against them and work the ball around."

The Shamrocks (21-8) led from start to finish. They connected on eight 3-point baskets, including 4 by Moore.

DePaul (22-9) got no closer than 9-7 with 1:48 left in the first quarter following Craig Atkins' 3-point basket.

Andres Velazquez-Camacho finished off the quarter with a basket and a buzzer-beating 3 for a 14-7 lead.

The Shamrocks received another buzzer-beater when Sean Ek, after grabbing a rebound, fired from mid-court and banked one in as the half expired for a 29-17 Shamrocks lead.

That seemed to break the Rams' back.

St. Patrick went on a 14-4 run to start the third quarter, building a 43-21 lead with 1:56 left. DePaul could not recover.

Moore scored 8 points in the quarter and Adrian Pierchanowski added 6 of his 11 points in the quarter.

"I thought our defense played very well," said St. Patrick coach Mike Bailey. "To beat them we had to rebound and we did 21-10. We're a small team but these players have played together for a long time. They know how to get position. We've played pretty good defense all year. Now, we're scoring more."

Nicholas Coleman backed up Moore with 16 points, converting 11 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter. Coleman and Ek pulled down 7 rebounds.The Shamrocks hit 22 of 26 free throws.

"Coleman has shown great leadership and poise throughout the year," said Bailey.

"Nick, really kept us together for the game," said Moore. "When things would get shaky, he kept us together. I think we're playing some of our best ball."

The Rams were led by David Holiday with 14 points, and center Raequan Williams netted 13.