by Alejandro Danois

The hallways at Lake Clifton High School were silent last Thursday as students and staff relaxed at home for the holiday break. No such luxury was afforded to members of the school�s basketball team.

Assembled in the gymnasium and dressed in their all-black practice uniforms with matching Nike footwear before the start of the 11 a.m. practice, the majority of players calmly shoot baskets at the six hoops surrounding the court.

At the far end of the gym entrance, guards Jason Sharp and Antoine Allen engage in a long range shooting contest, taking turns at lofting three-pointers from beyond the out of bounds stripe and just inside the half-court line. The players chatter and laugh as the sound of bouncing basketballs echo throughout the gymnasium.

As the Lakers warm up for their final practice before the Chick-fil-A Holiday tournament in Montgomery County, senior captain Ahmend Brown is already working at a high concentration level. Stationed at the free throw line directly across from what is normally the visitor�s bench, the five foot, 10 inch senior swishes five shots in a row while junior center Cleveland Melvin looks on.

After missing three in succession, where the ball bounces softly around the rim each time before falling harmlessly out of the cylinder, Brown glances at Melvin and gently urges him to stand near the basket. With Melvin stationed at the right block, Brown intentionally heaves bricks at the backboard that his teammate, after boxing out an imaginary defender, rebounds. They repeat the drill over and over, as Melvin grabs the missed shot, holds the ball aloft with outstretched arms and lays it into the basket, blending the three disparate components into one swift economy of motion.

Brown claps and encourages Melvin after each rebound and put-back.

"Left hand, left side," Brown calls out, as they slide to the other side of the rim and repeat the drill. Melvin has slightly more difficulty with seamless execution using his weak hand and Brown exhorts him with more passion.

The 2007-08 Lake Clifton basketball team is an experienced and talent laden squad that reached last year�s city championship game, losing to Northwestern.

The starting backcourt of Allen, Sharp and Derrious Gilmore, a yjtrr-year starter at point guard, is one of the state�s most lethal. All three players are the quicksilver, mercurial sort who can handle pressure, calmly execute a half-court offense against an array of defenses and render a full court press impotent with speed, floor vision and precision passing.

They can create their own offense off the dribble by blowing by the fleetest of opponents, float through the air while slicing through taller defenders to convert improbable lay-ups and, to add insult to injury, consistently hit NBA range three-point bombs. The three guards are, individually and as a unit, a nightmare for any opposing coach. But it�s the underappreciated skills of Melvin and forward Daniel Horton that will butter Lake Clifton�s bread. The big men defend, box out, rebound, challenge and block shots with reckless abandon, frequently suffocating the opposition�s interior game and providing the impetus behind the Laker�s vaunted running attack.

With outstanding depth in the backcourt, Ahmend Brown�s valuable contributions to Lake Clifton�s success in his role as team captain will, more often than not, take place in empty practice gyms as opposed to action packed games in front of standing room only crowds.

So at this particular juncture in a late morning pre-practice warm-up session, Brown is content, excited even, to put Melvin through some valuable, repetitive skill work. They practice pick and roll drills, with Melvin elevating to slam the ball after receiving each pass.

"Sit down! Sit down!" Brown exhorts, telling his center in basketball lingo to establish his post position as they work on entry passes.

"Ahmend is the first captain I�ve designated in nine or ten years," said Lake Clifton coach Herman Harried, who won a mythical national championship playing for Bob Wade�s powerhouse Dunbar team in 1983 and was a member of Jim Boeheim�s national runner up squad at Syracuse University in 1987. "He doesn�t get to play in a lot of games, but he�s the most vocal and positive guy on the team."

As Harried walks out of his office, clapping his hands and repeatedly saying, "Game time tomorrow," with intensity etched into his face, twelve heads swivel as the players jog to the baseline to begin the arduous full court sprints that open practice. Brown stays at the front of the pack throughout the tiresome running, moving nimbly and surprisingly fast for someone with the barrel chest, thick arms and legs more suited to a menacing linebacker than a swift point guard.

When someone throws an ill advised, errant pass that results in a turnover and an incredulous look from Harried during a three-on-two fast break drill, Brown�s resounding hand claps fill the gymnasium.

"Good try, but take your time next time," Brown encourages the momentarily dejected culprit.

Affectionately known by his nickname, "Skee," Brown caught the hoops bug at 10 years old while participating in a summer basketball camp run by Harried at the Cecil-Kirk Recreation Center. At Hamilton Middle School, he was a key contributor on a team won a city championship. But during his first two years in high school, he stayed glued to the junior varsity bench.

�I wasn�t good under pressure and turned the ball over a lot,� said Brown. Last year, he started at point guard for a squad that won Lake Clifton its second consecutive junior varsity city title.

"Even when he wasn�t playing that much on JV, you couldn�t tell that he wasn�t a starter because of his attitude," said Harried. "He was very vocal and brought a lot of positive energy to the team."

In the classroom, Brown�s academic development paralleled his athletic progress. As a freshman, he maintained a high 60 average.

"I thought I was doing good because I was passing but my mom said, 'That�s not good enough,'" said Brown. "My family pushed me to do better, they have big hopes for me and seeing people struggling in the streets made me want to do better."

He applied himself academically and incrementally raised his grades every year. He now maintains a high 80 average and is a member of the school�s honor roll.

"Ahmend has come a long way," said Lake Clifton Principal Tricia Rock. "Skee is the sweetest young man, has always been respectful, he�s helpful and has really taken on a leadership role in the school community."

Rock named Brown, along with a group of other students with demonstrated leadership skills and the respect of their peers, as a student ambassador and peer mediator this fall.

"We do things to make the school better and resolve problems," said Brown, of his work on the principal�s committee. "We solve conflicts by sitting down with kids that want to fight and mediate disputes, as well as patrolling the hallways and sitting in on classes to find out why kids don�t want to go to school."

The school has seen a precipitous drop in fighting since the implementation of the peer mediator program this fall.

"When people think about Lake Clifton, they think about violence but that�s changing," said Brown. "The police are not coming to school to lock kids up, other students look up to us and we�re starting to be recognized for other things and that�s positive."

In addition to his studies and basketball, Brown works at the ESPN Zone at the Inner Harbor, so managing his time wisely is a necessity. He�s submitted college applications to Howard University, Morgan State and Coppin State, among others. Brown was invited and attended the inauguration of Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon last month. He and his fellow student ambassadors rubbed elbows with an older generation of leaders.

"I saw Kweisi Mfume, Governor Martin O�Malley and a lot of important people," said Brown. "I felt real proud to be there."

Brown scored four points in the game�s waning moments of the Lakers' opening round victory over Potomac Friday. The next evening, Lake Clifton defeated city rival Digital Harbor for the tourney crown. Brown did not see any playing time, but was nevertheless immersed.

"I want to play, but I maintain a positive attitude," said Brown. "I like to see my coach and teammates happy, I just want to win and be a part of putting a city, regional and state championship banner up."

"A lot of guys that don�t play, they think they should and without realizing it, act selfish and forget about helping others," said Harried. "Ahmend helps others and he does stuff that you just can�t teach."