Nazareth coach Kim Connell doesn’t want to make excuses, but the past week has been far from normal for her girls basketball team.
The school was shut down for two days earlier this week due to a flu outbreak and, like many of the students at the school, Connell’s players have been hit by the flu bug.
One of Nazareth’s top players, senior guard Addie Doyle, missed school Monday and was diagnosed with bronchitis, possibly related to the flu or her asthma. Before Thursday night’s 51-30 loss to Lake Park in the first round of the Benet/Naperville North Tournament, Doyle visited her doctor to have her prescription renewed for another inhaler.
“It has definitely been hard, especially with this crazy time of the year. Mentally, our basketball schedule gets tougher now that we’re in a tournament,” said Doyle, a Western Springs resident. “And then we have finals (next week) before the holiday break.”
Doyle said first started feeling ill Saturday, but played in Nazareth’s 62-23 loss at Bishop McNamara to open East Suburban Catholic play.
“A lot of the kids were sick, but we still played. We had to fight through it,” Doyle said.
Nazareth officials closed the school Tuesday and Wednesday and the girls basketball team cancelled practices Monday and Tuesday. Connell held practice Wednesday, but five players were missing.
“It’s hard, but we do not want to use that as an excuse,” Connell said. “The girls do not want to use that as an excuse, either.”
Nazareth’s nonconference game against Rosary at home Tuesday was postponed and rescheduled for January. Of the 16 players on her roster, Connell said only two were unaffected by the flu. She estimated that 80 percent the girls basketball program at all three levels showed symptoms.
It comes at a bad time, as Nazareth is scheduled to play nine games in 17 days ending Dec. 27.
“It’s a tough task for us to get a win in one of these games out of this tournament,” Connell said.
Doyle and many of her teammates struggled Thursday against the Lancers (3-4), who, during one 18-minute span, allowed one basket. Lake Park went on a 17-1 run in the first quarter and did not allow a field goal in the second quarter. When Nazareth’s Elaine Gralak scored in the third quarter, the Lancers led 42-14.
Doyle scored six points, but missed her first five 3-point attempts until making a pair of 3s in the fourth quarter. Doyle scored a season-high 18 points on six 3-pointers Nov. 22 in a 45-32 victory over Westmont at Immaculate Conception.
Against Lake Park, Doyle and senior forward Maggie Harrington led the Roadrunners with six points each. They were the only players for Nazareth (4-3) to score more than one basket. The Roadrunners shot 3 of 20 in the first half and 10 of 39 in the game.
Junior forward Jennifer Warfield led Lake Park with 14 points and six rebounds.
