The Saint Patrick Shamrocks held on to first place in the East Suburban Catholic Conference with a weekend sweep of Carmel and Joliet Catholic. The Shamrocks are now 12-3 overall, and 6-0 in conference play

On Friday night, the Shamrocks traveled north to Mundelein for a game against the Corsairs of Carmel. The Shamrocks took an early lead, and seemed poised to cruise to an easy victory, but Carmel fought back late in the first half, putting together a 10-0 run to cut a 13-point lead to three at the half. The Shamrocks survived the scare, opening the third quarter with a 16-5 run and maintaining their lead throughout the rest of the game, on their way to a 58-44 win. Sam Maniscalco scored a game-high 22 points, and Jerome Robinson added 13 for the Shamrocks.

The next night, the Shamrocks hosted the Hilltoppers of Joliet Catholic Academy. The Shamrocks struggled for three quarters of the game, but Maniscalco put the game away in the fourth quarter, scoring 19 of his game-high 29 points in the final period. The Hilltoppers played well in the first half, taking a six–point lead into the half. The Shamrocks rallied to re-gain the lead at 30-28 with 1:44 remaining in the third quarter. The Shamrocks finished with a 63-45 victory.

This week the Shamrocks have a pair of road games. On Friday night they head south to take on the Roadrunners of Nazareth Academy. The following night, the Shamrocks head west down Belmont Avenue to play Guerin College Prep in the annual “Battle of Belmont.”