Adam ‘Budd’ Clark is West Catholic’s confident floor general, and he does it on both ends

If you listen carefully, you might just hear the theme from Jaws the next time you see West Catholic High School on the basketball court.

If it’s not the ominous bass slowly building to a frightening crescendo in the killer shark movie, perhaps it’s just the rapidly progressing heartbeats of point guards as they dribble near senior guard Adam “Budd” Clark.

At 5-foot-10 with fleet feet, quick hands, and a penchant to pilfer, Clark just might have the stickiest fingers in the city.

Sunday against La Salle, Clark finished with eight steals, frequently leaving ball handlers in his wake, their pockets splayed open like rabbit ears, en route to a 54-38 victory.

“I just like to see the look on their faces,” Clark, who has committed to Coppin State, said with a smile postgame. “They’re like, ‘Damn, he just got me.’”

At a time when every level of basketball seems obsessed with scoring points, Clark’s defensive tenacity sets him apart. It could also be what helps the Burrs, who lost in the Catholic League semifinals last season, capture their first title since 1959.

Bernard Clark has watched his son terrorize ball handlers since he was about 6 years old. Back then, Bernard, 45, frequently called his son “Buddy,” which was eventually whittled to “Budd.” Even at a young age, though, Clark was no friend to ball handlers.

“At that age,” the proud father said via phone, “some league’s wouldn’t want kids to take the ball from other kids, but he would always wind up with the ball somehow, some way.”

Not much has changed. Last year, Clark led the Catholic League in steals (3.5 per game).

Yet Clark, who transferred from Boys’ Latin after his freshman year, did have to adjust his ultra-aggressive style on defense.

West Catholic coach Miguel Bocachica explained that frequent whistles during his sophomore year often saddled Clark with foul trouble. He did, however, still finish in the top 10 in steals (2.4 per game).

“When he’s pressuring the ball, the guys behind him know that they’ve got to be in position because he’s going to force somebody into a mistake,” Bocachica said.

Now, the Burrs, who are loaded with offensive talent, are bolstered by Clark’s ability to defend without fouling while also disrupting an opponent’s offensive rhythm.

On Sunday, Clark wreaked havoc against the Explorers. The Burrs (6-6, 2-0) never trailed and forced La Salle (7-5, 0-3) into 20 turnovers. Clark finished with more than half of the team’s 15 steals.

“I like to take the ball from people,” he said. “I’m a dog defensively.”

“I feel like nowadays everybody just wants to score the ball,” he added later. “Everybody wants to score 20 points. People don’t see the little things that they can do to impact the game.”

His greatest asset, he said, is anticipation. It also helps once he senses fear.

“I can see the look in their eyes,” he said. “It makes me feel like an elite defender, like a dog on defense because nobody wants to dribble in front of me.”

Clark is also adept offensively. He finished with 14 points and four assists Sunday. Fellow senior Zion Stanford, who has committed to Temple, led the Burrs with 21 points. In last week’s one-point loss to defending champ Neumann Goretti, Clark led the team with 21 points.

No. 22, however, could have sent that game into overtime. Instead, Clark, who was fouled attempting a three-pointer with the Burrs down three with three-tenths of a second left, missed the final attempt.

He collapsed to the court face first as time expired.

“I was just like, ‘I let my teammates down in that situation,’” he said. “So that was going through my mind, that I let my teammates down, let myself down.”

His teammates, however, immediately rushed to support him.

» READ MORE: West Catholic forward Zion Stanford, a Temple recruit, is a pillar of the Burrs’ program

Bocachica said that the Burrs go as Clark goes and that his team remains confident in its point guard. The third-year coach, who for years was an assistant at Imhotep Charter, said Clark reminds him of Daron “Fatts” Russell, the dynamic 2017 Imhotep grad who later starred at Rhode Island and Maryland.

“For [Clark], he’s had that moment, so it’s experience,” Bocachica said. “So the next time he’s in that moment, he’s been there, he’s done that. And whatever caused the miss, I don’t think it’ll cause it again. He’s a confident kid.”

He also seems determined not to repeat such a miss. Clark said he plans to return to his days of 6 a.m. workout sessions before the school day begins. He hadn’t done so in about a month, he said.

“The next time I’m in that situation,” he said, “I know what to do because I feel like I short-armed that [shot]. Now I know in that situation that I have to take my time and just nail it.”