Shamrocks shock Morton, reach semis

John Coen had 15 kills and three blocks to lead St. Patrick past Morton 20-25, 25-17, 25-17 in a state tournament quarterfinal Friday at Hoffman Estates.

After closing out Game 2 on an 8-2 run, the Shamrocks used a 10-2 run to overcome a 10-5 deficit in Game 3.

St. Patrick (30-5) advances to face state powerhouse Wheaton Warrenville South in the semifinals Saturday.

“In Game 1, we were a very different team than we were in the sectional,” Coen said. “This is a new experience for everyone. But I think everybody started to settle down in Game 2 when we got up two or three points.”

Jim Leyden added seven kills for St. Patrick, which won despite committing 13 errors in Game 1 and 12 service errors in the match.

“I think we started to look past them after Game 1,” Morton coach Tony Hornilla said. “We were surprised by the number of mistakes they made. But hats off to them, they kept playing.”

Jonathan Hernandez had nine kills, Alfonso Pereda added six kills and Jose Valencia had 18 assists for Morton (29-6).

“Morton was the one team I didn’t want to face in the quarterfinals,” St. Patrick coach Joel Anderson said. “We knew they were super fast, but I think our blocking took over in Game 3.”