Energy roll to easy win over Explosion

Energy roll to easy win over Explosion

In the Edmonton Energy’s 159-127 win over the Snohomish County Explosion, there were a lot of understatements on the court.

Snohomish’s lack of post players, for example, played a big part in the Energy rolling to their fifth win of the season.

Saying the fourth quarter of the game was academic would be another one. Led by J.R. Patrick’s 30 points, Edmonton opened up a 15-point lead in the fourth and didn’t look back.

To say that Snohomish’s Chris Weakly did a bit of everything for his team though, would be the biggest understatement of the night.

The Explosion player/coach stepped off the sidelines for the first time this season and despite looking more like a YMCA gym rat than a professional basketball player, he led his team in scoring with a 39-point effort.

"I’m used to doing it," the stalky point guard said.

"I’m in shape. I have trainers, I train my guys. The guys are keeping me young." Weakly did most of his damage in the third quarter, where he hit four deep, contested three-pointers in a row against Edmonton.

Behind his dead-eye shooting, the Explosion cut Edmonton’s 75-58 halftime lead down to seven points.

Weakly did more than just light it up in a blowout loss, though.

The Decatur, Alabama native ran his team’s offence, played diplomat when his hot-tempered teammates got testy and had his share of fun on the court, trash-talking throughout the game with Energy coach Paul Sir.

"I played (against) Paul last year," Weakly said. "He’s a competitor and I’m a competitor. It’s just fun, we go back and forth like that." "I love that stuff," Sir said of the tete-a-tete with Weakly.

"I think that people who have played the game understand that that’s part of the fun of it, that you’re always trying to one-up each other and find a way to get an advantage over the other guys.

"Your trump card is always looking to score in that situation. Chris did a heck of a job tonight." Weakly played almost all of the game’s 48 minutes and did it with a smile on his face.

When the International Basketball League’s leading scorer, Snohomish forward Devon Greene -- who finished with 36 points -- got into a verbal exchange with a series of players on the Edmonton bench, it was Weakly who diffused the situation.

Perhaps as a testament to the scrappiness of the game in its late stages, Weakly went down with a shot to the breadbasket with 2:03 to play.

He received a warm applause from the small but appreciative Energy fan base.

"Him being the elder statesman on his team, he knows they’ve got a game tomorrow," Patrick said of Weakly’s calming affect.

"He’s one of those good role-type of team players, keeping his team in line.

And the player/coach’s game? "He looks like a football player, but don’t let it fool you," Patrick said. "He can definitely fill it up quick if you leave him open." The two teams will meet again tonight at MacEwan Gym at 7:15.

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