Ruthie Brown reached 100 career games played for Clever during the Lady Jays’ march to the Class 3 District 12 championship last week. Along the way, she’s also reached triple digits in many statistical categories.
The senior forward has been remarkably consistent in her production over the past three seasons and most impressively, has contributed in a wide variety of ways.
Coach Clark Satterlee thinks, all things considered, Brown is as much a reason as any of his players for Clever (13-14) claiming its first District title in three decades,
“She's the ultimate team player,” Satterlee said. “She's not worried about scoring a bunch of points or taking a bunch of shots. If we would have featured her more or didn't have Riah (Robinson), she’d probably be a 15-20 points-per-game scorer.
“With who we got and what we do, she's got to take care of the ball, rebound and guard ‘bigs,’” he added. “She has put a lot of work in and has a lot of responsibilities. She's sacrificed points to do that.”
Brown is fresh from a double-double against Ash Grove in Saturday’s District final. She collected 16 points and 12 rebounds, to go along with two blocked shots.
She put up those numbers opposite Ash Grove center Chloe Moad, a Missouri State signee.
“I've been playing against her since I was a kid. I played on her mom’s team when I was 5 years old,” Brown said. “I know how to score on her. She's obviously a good shot-blocker at 6-2. I had to be smart to score over her. Anyone who likes to block shots will go for shot-fakes. That was there a lot.
“It's exciting to get a win over someone like her who is going to play at (the NCAA D-I) level,” she added.
Brown, who has committed to play college ball at William Woods, has started three seasons for Clever and the Lady Jays have been able to count on her night in and night out. She averaged 10.9 points a game both her sophomore and junior seasons and 10.0 as a senior. She averaged 8.3 rebounds a night last season and 8.0 this season.
Entering Clever’s Sectional matchup with Strafford on Wednesday, Brown’s career totals include 862 points, 604 rebounds, 181 assists and 112 steals.
“Ruthie is so versatile,” Satterlee said. “She can play as a 1 or a 5. She can play as a point-center, which is nice.”
