He dribbles past half court and a quick crossover helps him blow by his defender.
Time is running down, 10, 9, 8…He drives straight for the basket, dodging defenders left and right, jumps for the finish, draws the contact, and kisses it off the glass for two points and a foul contributing to Paly’s victory over Wilcox.

Meet sophomore Brad Lehman, captain and star of Paly’s junior-varsity basketball team. Lehman is the nucleus of the team, consistently scoring around 15 points per game, pulling down some solid boards, and dropping a whole pouch of dimes.

Most wouldn’t expect someone contributing this much and to have just recently recovered from mono and a broken collarbone, but that’s just what Lehman is doing. Lehman broke his collarbone during a physical football practice in late October, and had to sit out for the rest of the season. To make things worse, he caught mono during conditioning and the beginning of basketball season and had to sit out for a month.

"When I was sitting out with my broken collarbone, I couldn’t practice very much because it hurt," Lehman said. "I feel like my shot got messed up from this injury, and I am still working on trying to get it back." Obviously these setbacks have not affected him too greatly, but he still feels like he missed out on too much while he was injured and sick. "I did not get to start off my season how I imagined it because I got sick. It was hard sitting on the sidelines during games and practices. I really wanted to be out there, but I physically couldn’t."

A couple weeks ago, watching him play when he was still recovering, it was easy to tell that he was out of condition, and weakened from his sickness. He still played well, but could only do so for a short while and had to have quick substitutions. "I felt weak when I got back into uniform," Lehman said. "I got tired really quickly in games, but it felt terrible because I wasn’t used to having to come out so early in the game because of fatigue."

But Lehman has since made a successful recovery and is back in action. Noting this, Lehman said, "I just kept pushing myself to get back into game-shape. Practicing every day really helped to improve my stamina, and I feel like I am back at full health." The now healthy Lehman has lead his Vikes to a 14-2 record, losing only to Serra and Saint Francis.

The strength of Lehman’s game is his ability to drive to the basket. With his quick first step, he can easily drive by his defender for a quick pull-up jumper or take it strong to the hole. Sometimes he will drive by his defender and dish it to a teammate for an open jumper or lay-up. To complete his offensive game, Lehman needs to work on his jumper. Although it is not bad right now, he agrees it could use some practice. Recently, he has been working on it and said that he figured out what is wrong with his shot. "My right pinkie finger is too far on the outside of the ball," Lehman said simply.
Come check him out 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, Jan 21 for his game against Homestead.