Tahoma's sharpshooter

Patrick Clark makes almost any difficult shot look easy.

In his mind, it is.

The Tahoma High School senior is shooting three-point baskets at a phenomenal clip this season, making better than 45 percent of his attempts (62 of 136) through the first 14 games of the season.

"If he's not the best shooter in the state, I don't know who is," coach Rob Morrow said.

Clark, a 6-foot-1 guard, simply shrugs his shoulders.

"It doesn't seem that hard to me," he said.

Clark started the season on fire, burying 13 of 23 three-pointers in the Bears' first two games. He cooled off a bit before going on another tear and was hitting an amazing 54 percent of his bombs through the first nine games. Clark has nailed at least one three-pointer in all but one game and put together four games with seven threes.

No wonder Morrow gives him the green light to shoot from anywhere on the court.

"It's neon green," the coach said.

While Clark's accuracy has been most impressive to many, Morrow is more pleased with his overall development, especially on defense.

"Last year, he was a good shooter, but defensively he was a nightmare at times," Morrow said. "And he didn't make great decisions with the ball. He's improved in every area."

That didn't happen by accident. Clark spent hours in the gym over the summer.

"I knew I needed to make myself a more complete player," he said.

On a senior-dominated team last year, Clark appeared tentative. Although he shot 37.5 percent from three-point range, he averaged only 4.6 points a game.

Heading into last Friday's game with Decatur High, that average was up to 16.9 points this season.

"He's kind of blossomed and become our guy," Morrow said. "We're better than I thought we were going to be this year, and he's the main reason."

Tahoma plays in the tough South Puget Sound League North Division, which features three or four top-10 teams throughout the season. The Bears have gone 7-0 in nonleague play, including a three-game sweep to win the Capital City Classic in Juneau, Alaska, during the holidays. But they were just 2-5 in league play after Tuesday's loss to Kentlake High. Aside from 6-6 freshman Christian Behrens, Tahoma players average only about 6-foot.

"It's pretty tough competition in our league," said Clark, who also averages just under five rebounds a game. "I'm just trying to go out and play and help my team win."

He hopes that his improved play will catch the eyes of college coaches. Otherwise, he likely will take his 3.73 grade-point average to the University of Washington or Washington State and is leaning toward a major in engineering.

"But if I can play [basketball] somewhere, I'll think about that, too," he said.

Sandy Ringer: 206-718-1512 or sringer@seattletimes.com