Jessica Clarke will join high school basketball’s elite when she takes the court at the BioSteel all-Canadian showcase in Toronto on Sunday.
The towering Saint Thomas Aquinas Grade 11 forward is one of 24 named to the BioSteel roster in the inaugural year for the girls’ basketball game. Canada’s top male high school basketball talent has been featured in the annual showcase on TSN for the past four years.
“Jessica is thrilled and honoured to be one of three players from British Columbia selected to play,” according to her STA coach, John Prescott, who has been on the court with Clarke since she was in Grade 4.
Described as a dominate post player, powerful rebounder and scorer, Clarke averaged 23 points per game this year with the Fighting Saints.
Since arriving at STA, Clarke has competed in 14 championship games, won two provincial championships, two B.C. Catholic Championships, and numerous North Shore, Vancouver and district championships, and Lower Mainland championships.
In all of those tournaments, Clarke was selected as the tournament MVP or an all-star, said Prescott.
Standing 6-3, Clarke also plays club basketball, and in Grade 8 was on a Vancouver zone team, coached by her mother Tracy Clarke, which won gold at the B.C. Summer Games.
“She is tremendously invested in being the best basketball player she can possibly be,” said Prescott. “Already many NCAA schools in the U.S. have sincerely connected with her with the hopes of signing her to a scholarship.”
Clarke earned her spot on the BioSteel roster after being chosen by a nine-person selection committee comprised of a cross-section of Canadian basketball stakeholders including provincial and territorial representatives, clubs, coaches, and scouts from across the country.
Girls selected to the BioSteel game will participate in practices, media availability and the 2019 Nike Skills Challenge.
The 2019 BioSteel All-Canadian Basketball Games are set for Sunday at the University of Toronto’s Goldring Centre for High Performance Sport. The girls’ game will air live at noon Pacific Time on TSN Direct, the TSN app and streaming on TSN.ca.
