The 1985 Bishop Shanahan Boys Basketball team began their season by beating Downingtown 69-43. They won their next two games before playing a good Malvern Prep team and lost 51-47. They bounced back in the next game and beat Chichester 60-55. Then they ran into a really good Lancaster Catholic team and lost 54-48. They beat Phoenixville next 78-36. Then they played a Southern High School team from Philadelphia and lost 53-39. After that they never lost again, winning 17 straight regular season games.

Since they were undefeated in the Southern Chester County League, they were declared league champions.

Their next stop was in the PIAA District 1 AA playoffs. In their first game they played a close game against Loalsock and won 66-61. In the next game they played a tough Holy Ghost team and just got by winning 52-50.Their next game was a team from out of the area, Northwest. The Shanahan Eagles, playing a good defense, won 42-33. The next game was against Bristol, always a tough team, but they beat them 59-44 during the regular season. This was a playoff game and the Eagles won 65-61 to advance to the state finals against Bishop McCort of Johnstown, PA. This was truly an exciting game. The Bishop McCort team had a player Paul Diebert, 6-9 who was being recruited by Wake Forest University. Deibert scored 21 points and added 17 rebounds but Bishop Shanahan won 52-46 to win the state title. Kevin Conahan had 17 points to lead the Eagles in the final game. William Pyle made one of two free throws with 55 seconds left, and Mike Valocchi finished the game by making two free throws with 41 seconds left to seal the victory. Pyle and Valocchi each had 10 points to lead the scoring. Mike O’Malley also added 11 points.

Head Coach Pete Bruni in his 24th year finally won the title, having lost in 1969 on a last second shot.

Because Bishop Shanahan is an Archdiocean High School, they had players from West Chester, Coatesville and Downingtown.

Mike O’Malley was their leading scorer for the season and was chosen Player of the Year and First Team All League as a forward. Kevin Conahan was also chosen to the First Team as a guard. Antonio Farr was picked for the First Team as a center. Mike Valocchi was a Second Team choice as a forward.