Togetherness allows Academy of Notre Dame basketball to net success

Villanova – August is supposed to be a relatively quiet time for Main Line high school basketball teams; however, it has been anything but that the past couple of seasons for Coach Mary Beth McNichol and the Academy of Notre Dame.

Last season starting point guard Caitlyn Clark suffered a season ending torn ACL at an AAU tournament. This season, Leanne Purcell had a life-threatening situation that resulted in a liver transplant that was followed with the news just three games into the season Alex Kane had torn her ACL and would be lost for the remainder of the season.

Through all of the adversity the Irish have done exactly what they have been taught – stick together and lend support.

“I will say that we have had disappointing news for the past two summers,” said McNichol in a recent interview. “However, I was amazed at how these seniors handled every situation. No matter how tough things got – and they got really tough with Leanne being critically ill – these girls stuck together and showed such courage and strength.”

“It was tough,” added junior Tess Phillips referring to the loss o the court of Clark last season and Purcell and Kane this season. “However we stayed united and the coaching staff and seniors always encouraged us to play hard. If we lost games they picked us up and we went out to try and win our next game.”

After suffering many tough losses during the 2014-15 campaign, the Notre Dame community was looking forward to the return of Clark and seeing what this group of seniors accompanied by many talented underclassmen could accomplish.

As the summer was coming to a close and the anticipation building for an exciting season, real life intervened for McNichol and the basketball team. That is when she received a call about Purcell and the critical battle she now had to face.

While vacationing with her family, Purcell began to feel ill. Different than something she had experienced before, Purcell knew she had to go to the hospital. It was there that she learned her liver was failing and she would need a liver transplant.

A difficult situation for anyone to face, let alone a teenager, the Purcell family knew they were not alone. Once again, led by the senior class – Clark, Rachel Ryan, Alex Kane, Kristen Rogers and Caroline Allen – the Notre Dame squad jumped into action, doing anything they could to support the family.

When Purcell walked through the doors during an Irish practice, there was cause for celebration knowing the teammate was progressing in the right direction and would be there for them.

“It meant so much that Leanne and Alex were supporting us in practice and during games this year and Caitlyn was there for us last season,” Rogers said. “Even though they couldn’t play they wanted to support us and that meant a lot. It gave us extra motivation because it gave us someone to play for.”

Unsure what to expect without Purcell and Kane, the Irish responded, going 19-7 overall and finished in sole possession of second place in the Inter-Ac. The Irish picked up key wins over district tournament qualifier Springfield and state tournament qualifiers Central Bucks South and Villa Maria Academy.

“These seniors were truly an inspiration to the underclassmen,” said McNichol. “They were leaders and they set an example of how to stick together as a team and how to stay strong in adversity.”

“We are all on the same page looking to accomplish the same goals,” said Rogers. “We had a rough season last year and we wanted this one to be memorable.”

Memorable it was for the seniors and the coaching staff with all of the adversity the team went through the past two summers. Despite losing many key parts to this year’s success, Notre Dame will return a core that received valuable experience combined with leadership lessons.

“It’s going to hard next year with the loss of many key players but they prepared us and we are ready to step up and lead,” Phillips said.