March 18, 2008

     NEW MILFORD -- There's more to being the leader of a basketball team than just scoring the most points. The leader is the player the rest team turns to when the pressure is on. The leader does all the little things to help the team win, things that don't always show up in the box score.
     Not everyone can be a leader, but Canterbury School basketball star Clare Fitzpatrick seems to have been born for the role. She served as a team captain two years ago as a sophomore and again this past season as a junior. An enormous amount of responsibility, no doubt, but Fitzpatrick has flourished despite the pressure.
     In the final game of this past season on Feb. 23, Fitzpatrick reached a milestone few scholastic basketball players ever do -- she scored her 1,000th career point. A remarkable achievement, indeed, but what makes this milestone even more impressive is that Fitzpatrick reached it in just three seasons -- 55 games to be exact.
     Only a special athlete could do that.
     "On the court, the team definitely looks to her to set the tone for how the game is going to go, which is a lot of pressure at times, I know, but she handles it extremely well," said Canterbury coach Sarah Ferland who guided her team to a 12-8 record this past season. "We have a great team that's dynamic to begin with, but I think it starts at the top with the captains."
     Fitzpatrick, a forward who hails from Southbury, has averaged better than 18 points per game in her three years despite being the center of attention for opposing defenses.
     "I go out there with an open mind," Fitzpatrick said. "I see what the defense brings me and if I get a scoring opportunity, I take it. But I pass a lot to my teammates, and if it's not there I don't force it. It's a team sport and we play as a team every game we play."
     And when the team needs a big play, Fitzpatrick is often the one who provides it. In a thrilling 58-57 victory over Westover on Jan. 14, Fitzpatrick poured in a school-record 43 points, including the winning basket at the buzzer.
     "It was a back-and-forth-battle" Fitzpatrick recalled. "I didn't really know I was scoring that many points. I just went out there and played. We played awesome team basketball."
     Fitzpatrick was the hero that day, but as Fitzpatrick remembers, it almost didn't happen that way. With four seconds remaining in a tie game, Fitzpatrick was called for a blocking foul, giving Westover a golden opportunity.
     "I was standing straight in the middle of the lane, Fitzpatrick said, "and the girl drove. She missed the layup but they gave her two shots. She made one of them to put them up by one."
     With the game on the line, Ferland knew exactly where to turn.
     "Coach called a timeout and set up a play for me to get it," Fitzpatrick said. "All I could think about was shooting the ball once I got it. I took about three dribbles from half-court and just shot it."
     And put an exclamation point on a memorable, record-setting performance.
     Fitzpatrick's road to 1,000 points hasn't been free of bumps. In the final game of her freshman season, Fitzpatrick fractured her fibula. This past season, she missed three games with a sprained ankle.
     Those are pretty big bumps, but Fitzpatrick has just kept on playing.
     And scoring.