MANSFIELD — Nicole McLure wasn’t born to shoot a basketball.
Her sisters all played basketball for Temple Christian and some of her siblings continued with the sport into college. Her father played through high school and hung up his tennis shoes after 49 years of playing.
“My whole life, I pictured my married life with kids to be playing basketball together with a hoop in our driveway,” said Tim McLure, Nicole’s father.
Like her siblings, Nicole loves the sport. However, due to a birth defect — a form of congenital myopathy — she struggled even to lift the ball.
“I’ve had the privilege of watching all three of my sisters play basketball. I like how they all hustle in games, and they’re tough,” Nicole said. “One time my sister Kayla had the flu the night before a big game and still played the next day, even though she was not feeling well.”
When she was about 3 years old, Nicole underwent several tests to try to get a more concrete diagnosis. Doctors felt she had some form of Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy, her mother said.
Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy is a term for a group of diseases that causes weakness and wasting of the muscles in the arms and legs, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine. The muscles most affected are those closest to the body (proximal muscles), specifically the muscles of the shoulders, upper arms, pelvic area, and thighs.
“There have definitely been tears because she can’t do the things she likes to do — wants to do,” her mother, Teresa McLure said.
But what Nicole lacked in ability, she made up for in heart. If she loves something, she’ll keep at it until she is able to do it. At the start of her seventh grade year, Nicole, now a freshman at Temple Christian, began trying to shoot the ball.
“She couldn’t even hit the rim, I mean not even come close to it,” Crusaders head coach Paul Baird said of those first attempts. “But she just kept shooting and shooting.”
The game she loves presents her with more challenges. Baird said running up and down the court is difficult, and her reaction time hinders her reflexes, often robbing her of balance.
Nicole found a way to be close to the sport though, she became the team statistician and manager.
“She went to practice and worked hard at shooting baskets,” Teresa McLure said. “It’s good for her to be a part of the team and do what she can.”
Finding out what she can and can’t do is a process, too.
In 2013, the McLure family traveled to the National Whitewater Rafting Park in Charolette, North Carolina. She wanted to try the beginner-level ropes course, but that had hurdles to overcome as well.
“You had to climb up a ladder to the actual course,” Teresa McLure said. “I told her, ‘Nicole, I don’t think you can do that; you’re not strong enough.'”
Nicole told her mother, “If I never try something, I will never know if I can’t accomplish it.”
That comment stands out in her mother’s mind.
“I sometimes hold her back, and I just have to let her learn,” Teresa said. “She’s learned if she fails the first time, she’ll keep trying and she might just succeed later.”
Nicole kept shooting. She fired up 100 shots a day over the course of two seasons between seventh grade and her freshman year.
“She’s the type of girl where the only disability is a bad attitude,” Baird said. “Nothing is going to keep her from doing what she wants to do.”
She practiced with the Crusaders, dressed in a jersey on game day, but never got time on the court until Feb. 2.
The Crusaders celebrated Senior Night, where the team starts all senior players. But Senior Night was even more meaningful this year.
Nicole, although just a freshman, was on the starting roster.
“Her sister, Kayla McLure started too, so that made it even more special,” Baird said.
On the first offensive set for the Crusaders, the ball was passed to Nicole. Her shot attempt rattled off the rim and was collected by a Coshocton player.
“It was really cool that a girl from the other team got the rebound and gave it back to Nicole,” Baird remembered.
Just as she’s done her entire life, Nicole kept working to accomplish her goal. On her second field goal attempt, she netted her first career points.
“When I made the shot, I was overwhelmed with happiness,” Nicole said. “I had been working towards that goal for a long time, and two years ago I never thought I would be able to have the opportunity to shoot a basket during the game. It was one of the best days ever.”
The gym exploded when the ball went through the net. Her teammates ran to hug her, while the opposing squad applauded and the crowd cheered.
“Basketball is important to me because I love it,” Nicole said. “My skills develop much slower than the others girls on the team, so when I accomplish something new it’s very exciting.”
The Crusaders have found inspiration from within while performing on the hardwood with Nicole.
“She has not let anything stop her,” senior teammate Grace Custer said. “She puts in as much work as anyone and never gives up. She doesn’t get discouraged and she always has an amazing attitude.”
Tim said he and Nicole are going to try to build muscle so she can be an active player on the team.
“She has about 50 percent of strength (other kids have),” he said. “We don’t know if she can build muscle; we’ve never tried it. We’ll start a weight program and see if we can build.”
The past three seasons, the Crusaders have registered a 53-16 record. They compete against larger schools such as Lucas, Crestline and Mansfield Christian. The Crusaders are 17-4 this season.
The Crusaders are not a member of the Ohio High School Athletics Association. Instead, the Baptist-Christian School competes in the Ohio Christian School Athletic Association. Temple Christian won the regional championship and is now heading to the Final Four at Ohio Christian University on Friday. A win sends TC to the state championship game on Saturday.
Nicole’s story is about more than being able to get an opportunity, her mother said. It’s about continuing to try after failing and working through, not accepting, limitations others may see.
“I sometimes feel like maybe she’s not going to be able to do something, but she works hard at it. She amazes me,” her mother said. “The emotion of seeing her accomplish that goal, I can’t even describe it. Not even just making the basket, but also the character, perseverance that goes beyond that.”
