H-S Athlete of the Week: Ava Clark, Brownsville
Brownsville softball record-holder scores 1,000th point in basketball
Name: Ava Clark
School: Brownsville
Class: Senior
Sport: Basketball
Clark’s week: Ava Clark scored her 1,000th career point on Monday during the second quarter of Brownsville’s girls basketball game against Our Lady of the Sacred Heart at PennWest California’s Convocation Center in the Cal U Holiday Tournament. “It was on a layup,” Clark said. “I drove through the lane between two people and shot it and made it. It felt like a great weight off my chest to check off another one of my goals I had for sports at Brownsville.” Clark, who scored 11 of her team’s 17 points in the loss, recalled three years ago writing down what she wanted to achieve in sports at Brownsville. “I made a list of goals before my freshman year for softball and basketball,” Clark said. “I wanted to get the school record for strikeouts in softball and score 1,000 points in basketball. It felt good to be able to check both of those goals off.”
Humming hurler: This was Clark’s third career milestone of 2025. In softball the hard-throwing right-hander broke Stacey Knox’s school record of 376 career strikeouts and also notched her 500th career strikeout. She has one additional goal she has set for the 2026 softball season. “I have over 600 strikeouts now and I want to get to 700 this year,” said Clark, the 18-year-old daughter of Terry Christina Clark of Cardale. “I accomplished almost all the goals I set for myself so I think it’ll feel really rewarding when I walk out of Brownsville after I graduate.”
Doing it for mom: Clark’s mother is a Bentworth graduate, then known as Christina Heckman, who came up just short in her quest for reaching 1,000 points for the Lady Bearcats. “She was really close to 1,000 in high school,” said Clark, who received a big hug from her mom after Monday’s accomplishment. “I think she had around 950. So for her to see me get there to 1,000 I think was really exciting for her, too.” Christina also, like her daughter, was a softball pitcher in high school. “A lot of people who supported me throughout my school basketball career were there to watch me get 1,000 and cheer me on,” Clark said. “A lot of my family and relatives, and a lot of friends and even my college softball coaches were all there.”
Switching to Cal: Clark originally made a verbal commitment to play college softball at West Liberty but later switched to PennWest California to play under head coach Kristin Erb and assistant Richele Hall. “I got accepted into the honors program at Cal for schooling and I also wanted to be there with my sister Olivia who also goes there,” Clark said. “When I met with the coaches and they offered me I felt that’s where I wanted to be. I wanted to play close to my hometown so all of the younger players could come and watch me play and maybe look up to someone playing at the next level.”
Kudos to Columbia: Clark cited Lady Falcons basketball coach Patty Columbia as a positive influence on her throughout her high school athletic career. “Patty has been my coach since my freshman year,” Clark said. “She’s seen me grow up and grow as a player in person. She helps the softball team, too, with coach Jane (Bock). Patty has been there through all of it and has supported me the whole way.”
Multi-position star: The 5-foot-10 Clark has played just about every position for the Lady Falcons as a four-year starter on the basketball team. She is still showing her versatility as a senior, especially since the departure of fellow 1,000-point scorer Slyler Gates who graduated from Brownsville early to get a jump on her college volleyball career at the University of Virginia. “We lost one of our main players in Skyler so I’ve had to change positions some and I am trying to be more of a leader now with her gone,” Clark said. “I’ve been point guard and shooting guard for most of the year and now I’m even playing other positions. When we’re on defense sometimes I’ll be down low, sometimes I’ll be up top, but I’m usually everywhere or just anywhere they need me that game. We have a really young team now so for the rest of the season I’m going to focus on helping them improve.”
Memorable moments: Clark has several games that stick out as her most memorable in basketball in addition to her 1,000th-point contest. “Going to the playoffs is always fun and exciting and we did that twice,” said Clark, but it was a heart-breaking loss earlier this season to Seton LaSalle that she’ll never forget. The Lady Rebels avoided the upset by scoring at the buzzer to hand the Lady Falcons a 62-61 defeat, one of four this season Brownsville has lost by two or fewer points. “Even though we lost, that is probably one of the best games we’ve played together,” Clark said. “We had a lot of fans and it was just such an exciting game.” Gates led the Lady Falcons with 35 points and Clark tallied 20 in the close clash.
— Compiled by Rob Burchianti