Let the games begin!  The Shamrocks will take on the Blue Devils of Tilden for a 60 Year Anniversary game on Kurland Court in the Giovannetti Sport Centre at Saint Patrick High School.  The match up will recreate a hardwood battle etched in the lore of St. Pat's and Chicago high school basketball.  Sophomores tip off at 6:00p and Varsity to follow. There will be a pre-game reception in the Lowell I. Stahl Cultural Centre in conjunction with our annual Alumni night.

"In 1949, the Shamrocks earned the Catholic League's north division title before ousting Leo for the overall Catholic League crown.  At the time, Catholic school teams were prohibited from participating in the state tournament, meaning the Shamrocks' biggest contest would come in a battle against Chicago Public League champ Tilden Tech for the All-City title at the Chicago Stadium.

Led by superstar center Johnny "Red" Kerr, the Chicago Tribune called Tilden one of the city's best ever public league squads.  In spite of St. Pat's success in securing the Catholic League title, few gave the underdog Shamrocks any shot of upsetting the mighty Blue Devils.

"Tilden was the big school on the south side with the big name player and we were nothing more than the small school in need of a prayer," said Walt Schmit, a 1949 grad who traveled to the championship game with his older brother, Len, a 1947 Academy grad.

On April 1, 1949, the Shamrocks and Blue Devils tipped off in the second game of a doubleheader, the marquee contest that would crown Chicago's top basketball team.  A see-saw game intensified in the final period.  Eugene Dyker '49, wearing a brace on his wrist after breaking a bone earlier in the season, scored a pair of buckets over Kerr in the final minutes, but still the Shamrocks trailed by one with less than a minute remaining.  The ball in the hands of Patrick Dunn '50, the All-State senior playmaker drove to the basket and hit the game-winning shot with 30 seconds remaining.  In the 54-53 victory, Dunn scored 16, Dyker scored 12, and Tom Bamber '49, who doubled as the football team's quarterback tallied 12 as well."  (an excerpt from A Tradition of Brotherhood: 150 Years at Saint Patrick High School by Daniel Smith '98)

The victory is amazing when you realize that Tilden had 3,000 students at the time and St. Pat's had 300!