She's Lara Dean, Blair's basketball queen

At 5'7" with a lightweight physique, senior Lara Dean, co-captain of the girls' varsity basketball team, is not the typical female point guard. But Dean's atypical build, her combination of ball-handling skills and her mental intensity have proven her to be a versatile player.

Girls' varsity basketball coach William Lindsey says that Dean uses her small frame to her advantage on the court. "Lara has the flexibility of guarding a person smaller and quicker, or someone larger with a little more weight on them," Lindsey explains.

A basketball player since the age of seven, Dean has played on a number of teams, including the Montgomery County Classics team and the Wheaton Boys and Girls Club team. Dean frequently plays pick-up basketball with her siblings and friends. From street ball, Dean says, she "gets the aggressiveness and fun aspects of the game."

Dean possesses many skills on the court, says Lindsey. She has the ability to shoot the ball from three-point range and is direct in communicating with the team.

Command on the court is vital for a point guard, according to Dean. "You need to control things," she says. "A point guard is pretty much the backbone of the team."

As a point guard, Dean stays on the perimeter and runs offensive plays based on the formation of the opponent's defense. "I'm looking at who's open, who I can give the ball to," she says.

As the on-court leader, Dean is responsible for encouraging her teammates. "If people aren't pushing themselves, [Lara] will be like, ‘Push it,'" says forward Allison Birks, a junior. "She wants the team to do well."

Dean has excelled as a point guard despite beginning her basketball career as a small forward in her freshman year on the junior varsity team. The varsity squad needed a point guard after the graduation of Tasha Oliver, Blair's point guard in the 1999-2000 season.

The point guard position floated among Dean, 2001 graduate Bella Ahanogbe and shooting guard Jennifer Sindall, a senior, during the 2000-2001 season. Dean assumed the role as primary point guard last year.

Dean's hustle came with a price in a game against Whitman High School her sophomore year. While running down the court, Dean stumbled over a player and fell on her left wrist, causing an injury that made her miss the last quarter of the season. "Naturally, I was really mad, but there was nothing I could do about it," she says.

In order to rid her wrist of lingering aches, Dean underwent surgery this October.

Dean's lean build has not hurt the likelihood of her playing basketball at the collegiate level either. Her proficiency as a ball-handler has attracted the attention of recruiters from such institutions as Gettysburg, Washington, and McDaniel colleges.