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Coach suits up to fill out Snohomish County roster

Chris Weakly is usually on the sidelines in a dress shirt barking orders to his basketball team.

However, last night the head coach of the Snohomish County Explosion threw on a uniform and led his team onto the floor.

Yet, despite his game-high 39 points, the Explosion could not keep pace with the Edmonton Energy who cruised to a 159-127 win at MacEwan College. The two teams face each other again tonight.

"Talk about the definition of a crafty veteran," said Energy head coach Paul Sir. "We threw a lot of guys at him defensively and he was still able to hit shots on us. I think though in the fourth quarter, we started to figure some things out and presented more of a challenge for him.

"But he had a great game, he was the reason they were in the game."

ABSENT PLAYERS

Missing his starting point guard, who is currently leading the league in assists, and also without a pair of big men, Weakly suited up to fill out his roster. It was his first game of the season.

"I’m still in shape, I’ve been training with the guys and they keep me young," Weakly said. "We’re trying to piece whatever we can together to get back to a winning level.

"You can’t taking anything away from Edmonton, they shot the ball extremely well and they’re extremely big."

The Explosion went into the game with the league’s top scorer in Devon Greene, who was averaging 37 points per game.

Last night Greene finished with 36, but a majority of those points came late in the contest when the issue was no longer in doubt.

"Once we figured his game out, we tried to do a good job on him," Sir said. "He’s got a couple of real, nice moves and he shoots the ball well. We just tried to focus on taking those moves away from him and making him put the ball on the floor and then having our big guys contest on the inside.

"His game is definitely a pull-up, shooting game. He’s not nearly as good going to the basket, so we gave him a lot of trouble."

The Energy were led offensively by JR Patrick, who was hot early, collecting 23 points in the first half en route to a team-high 30. Lee Scruggs added 22.

The Explosion had difficulty containing Scruggs’ height and Kevin Shand’s strength inside.

At six-foot-11, Scruggs had a distinctive height advantage on Johnny Hardwick and Richard Ford, who took turns guarding him. Scruggs was able to shoot over his defenders displaying a soft touch around the basket.

Shand, meanwhile, wasn’t as subtle, using his six-foot-10, 275-lb. frame to power to the basket. He had a couple of monster dunks in the first half, one which nearly ripped the backboard extensions off the wall.

The Energy took a 78-58 lead into halftime.

In the second half, the Explosion got back into the game, mainly due to the outside shooting of Weakly. The Explosion were able to cut the lead to eight at one point in the third quarter.

The Energy, however, were able to keep control of the contest with their strong inside game. Andrew Parker also showed off his leaping ability with a spectacular conversion of an ally-oop pass. The Energy forward, however, tarnished the play by hanging onto the rim too long and picking up a technical foul.

Regardless, the Energy were able to take a 12-point lead into the fourth quarter.

SHUT-DOWN DEFENCE

Weakly was able to maintain the hot hand, but Greene was never able to hit his stride when it most mattered. The Energy did a good job of smothering him and not letting him get into an offensive rhythm.

"I thought we came out really strong and had some good defensive intensity," said Patrick. "All we really did with (Greene) was try to meet him early. He’s a really good player, he can shoot threes and we know he can take it to the hole and knock down whatever he wants. So we just tried to contain him and keep some pressure on him and make him put up contested shots."