When Caitlin Clark crosses half court, everyone in the building is on high alert.

It’s not unlike what happens when a certain guard for the Golden State Warriors dribbles the ball past the timeline.

For the first time tonight, the worlds of Caitlin Clark and Stephen Curry will collide at Chase Center in San Francisco, as the basketball cathedral made possible by the NBA’s best shooter of all time welcomes his heir apparent on the women’s side when the Golden State Valkyries take on Clark’s Indiana Fever.

Curry weaponized the 3-point shot and fundamentally changed the way basketball is played at every level. Early in her career, Clark is having a similar impact.

Bay Area girls high school coaches have seen firsthand the way Clark is altering the style of play at lower levels and influencing young players to imitate her exceptional shooting prowess.

“She has been awesome for the sport,” said Carondelet coach Kelly Sopak, who coached fellow long-distance specialist Sabrina Ionescu, now a New York Liberty star, at Miramonte High in Orinda. “Her skill set and fanfare has brought so much attention to the women’s game.”Clark’s impact, like Curry’s, has extended far beyond the court she plays on. It was Curry who made a generation of young basketball players want to chuck from the logo — “ruining the game,” as his former coach Mark Jackson put it — and made long-distance shooting a main feature of the sport.

Pinewood coach Doc Scheppler has been a longtime advocate of the virtues of the 3-pointer at the high school level, but even he is wary of Clark’s more ambitious attempts leading young players astray. And to his point, those shots certainly produce “wow” moments.

“The positives are her mastery of the skill of shooting being a major part of her greatness,” said Scheppler, widely known as a shooting expert across the Bay Area. “She is a willing passer who is fun to play with. Her passing angle knowledge and accuracy of her passes are high level. Great vision, decision and execution. She works at developing her game. Supportive teammate.

“The minor negatives are low-percentage 3s that aren’t efficient and kids seeing those as quality shots with form disintegration. They’re a ‘wow’ if they go in, but if they don’t go in, that doesn’t translate as a winning basketball play.”

On Saturday, Clark buried three deep triples in a span of 38 seconds in the first quarter of a win over the Liberty as she returned from a quad strain. She made seven 3-pointers in the game, splashing three from beyond 30 feet from the basket.

Since joining the Indiana Fever after the 2024 WNBA draft, Clark has spearheaded a 3-point surge in the league. The WNBA’s 3-point attempt rate this season is 36.9%, the highest in league history.

The Valkyries, in their first year, are at the forefront of the transformation as one of five teams to attempt more than 40% of their shots from 3. Last season, only the New York Liberty were over 40%.

Sopak remembers coaching against Clark at a Nike event in Virginia when she was a freshman in high school.

“That is when I knew she was going to be a pro and one of the best,” he said. “Her ability to get her shot off quickly and against any team or individual just stood out.”

San Ramon Valley girls coach John Cristiano, whose team often likes to attack from the perimeter, has seen firsthand this week the effect Clark has had on individual players and the game at large.

In a text message Tuesday, Cristiano called Clark’s arrival “the shot of adrenaline that women’s basketball has needed.”

Cristiano said he will end his youth summer camp early on Thursday so the campers can go watch Clark take on the Valkyries.

“This morning, we had a number of kids proudly repping Caitlin Clark T-shirts,” he said. “Only one Steph Curry T-shirt could be found in the crowd of future hoopers.”

Archbishop Mitty coach Sue Phillips has seen generations of excellent players come and go. She has coached future pros and a bundle of stars who went on to play college basketball.

Phillips has never seen anything quite like what Clark brings to the table.

“Caitlin has a large and enthusiastic fan base, and it has contributed to the wave of interest and excitement in women’s basketball,” Phillips said. “She has certainly been the one on the female side who has received the most attention and celebration for shooting logo 3s.”

Whatever a fan’s WNBA allegiance is, it’s apparent that Clark is a premium ratings driver for the league. When Clark is on the court, people are watching.

An anticipated sellout crowd will get a chance to see her live and in person on Thursday in San Francisco. And millions more will be watching across the country, and even the broader world.

Bay Area girls basketball coaches are tuned in as well.

“I love watching her play, and count me in when her games are televised,” Scheppler said. “It’s on the DVR.”