Remembering CTK star

PHILADELPHIA — The thing I remember about Clare Droesch was not so much the natural way she found the basket. It wasn’t so much the sweet jump shot that took her from Christ the King to the national stage at Boston College. It wasn’t even her self-assuredness on the court or the dry sense of humor she had.

The thing that alway stuck with me about Clare was the respect that other players had for her.

A few days after she had set the Christ the King girls record for scoring back in 1999, dropping 48 points in a heated CHSAA battle between the Royals and scrappy Bishop Kearney, I was at her practice. Sitting in the stands waiting for then coach Vincent Cannizzaro to wrap it up, a few of the players from the boys team walked in and sat in the stands. Omar Cook, who was one of the best high school boys’ guards in the country at the time, sat down and we started to chat. I mentioned Clare’s game earlier in the week, when she dropped 48 points on Bishop Kearney, and I said I thought she was one of the best women players I had ever seen. Cook looked at me funny for a moment.

“Clare’s one of the best players there is,” Cook corrected me with the ultimate respect for his schoolmate. “She’s a great player.”

He was right, Droesch was a player and a gamer in a city full of exceptional players.

I was devastated to hear that Clare succumbed to the breast cancer she had so valiantly fought against for years on Friday. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in December 2011; she was just 36 years old when she died.

One of the many girls who learned the game in the Belle Harbor neighborhood of Rockaway, Droesch became a CYO star at St. Francis De Sales before heading to Christ the King. She went on to play at Boston College, joining her neighborhood friend and Bishop Kearney rival Janelle McManus.

“Clare was one of the most passionate players I have ever coached. She had a deep love for the game of basketball, her team and Boston College,’’ Cathy Inglese, Droesch’s former college coach, said in a statement. “Clare filled many roles for our team, the most important being the ‘clutch player’ when the game was on the line. She wanted the ball in her hands for the final shot, which was usually the winning shot.

“Her confidence and leadership spread to others on the team. Her impact on the team was unmeasurable.”

Droesch went on to serve as an assistant coach in college and returned to New York to work with high school players. She was an assistant coach at her alma mater recently.

She leaves a long legacy as a coach and player.

I’ll never forget sitting in the jampacked Kearney gym that night that Droesch scored 48 points against the Tigers and one of her closest friends, McManus. She was determined, fearless and electric. After the game, when asked about breaking the Royals’ girls scoring record in such a big game, I remember her clear blue eyes flashing and her laughing when told she was just six shy of the boys record.

“I shot 8-of-12 from the freethrow line; if I had made my shots, I would have had a shot at that one too,” Droesch said with a laugh. he was named an ACC Legend in 2015 and is a member of the Boston College Varsity Club Hall of Fame. For New Yorkers, Droesch was an All-City Player in New York and honored as the Girls Player of the Year.

To me and the rest who were lucky enough to watch her play and know her a little, she will simply be remembered as one of the best to play the city’s game.

S