DePaul College Prep celebrated as back-to-back Illinois high school basketball champs

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The DePaul College Prep Rams are back-to-back Illinois state champions, having beaten the Mount Carmel Caravan in the IHSA Class 3A boys' basketball final this past Saturday.

They celebrated bringing home their latest trophy with a pep rally Monday.

In their victory, the Rams became the first-ever high school basketball team to repeat as Illinois state champs after moving up in classification.

Last year, the Rams were the Class 2A champs, while this year, they moved up to Class 3A.

"We always had that chip on our shoulder ever, like, since summer league – even before the season started," said DePaul College Prep senior guard PJ Chambers. "We knew after we won, it was like, 'Oh, we're going up to 3A. It was going to be, like, rough. But we just kept working and kept playing, and you know, that's where we got to where we're at."

DePaul beat Mount Carmel 49-41 on Saturday.

Homewood-Flossmoor High School also won a state title for Class 4A this past weekend, and Phillips Academy for Class 2A.