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Girls Basketball: Lynn Nagle, Oak Forest pull away from Shepard
Updated: December 6, 2011 9:02PM
Oak Forest guard Lynn Nagle had two choices after she tore the ACL in her left knee during a summer game at Allstate Arena.
She could have surgery right away and miss her senior season, or she could persevere and play with a brace.
Love of the game and love for the team made it a pretty easy decision.
“I don’t know if I’m going to play basketball anymore (in college),” she said after the Bengals beat host Shepard 58-19 in a South Suburban crossover Tuesday. “It’s my senior year and I felt I could just try for my team.
“I’ve been playing with some of these girls forever. My best friends are all on the team. I just love it, and I love basketball so much. I couldn’t imagine just sitting there not playing.”
Nagle made her second start of the season and hit the first of five three-pointers the Bengals as a team would sink on the night. She also had two steals and an assist during a 9-0 start.
Kate Swanson led the way for Oak Forest (3-4, 2-0) with 17 points, while Maddie Baxa added 12 and Emily Naegele 11.
Shepard (2-8, 0-2) was paced by Amanda Weiss (seven points, seven rebounds) and Emily Marszalek (six rebounds).
Nagle will have surgery after the season. In the meantime, she’s playing in two- or three-minute increments, during which she adds a second perimeter shooting threat.
“As hard as she’s worked in the offseason to get back out there, she deserves all the credit in the world,” Oak Forest coach Steve Schanz said. “I’m just glad that so far we’ve been able to get her playing time. And you can tell when she’s out there she’s still darned good, one of our better players.”
The Bengals were lights-out from just about everywhere early Tuesday, hitting eight of their first nine shots and racing a 19-2 lead.
It was their second runaway victory in a row after a rough 1-4 start.
“We’re a team that learns really quickly,” Swanson said. “If coach Schanz tells us something to do, we try to fix it as soon as possible.
“We work very hard at practice. Hopefully, we’ll have a good season.”
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