East coaches knew Christian Brown was going to be a good player for the Leopards this season. They knew the talent was there with Brown but the coaches probably didn't expect him to lead the team in scoring in six of its first eight games.
    Brown has started the year really strong, averaging 15 points per game and scoring at least 10 points in eight of nine games. He had to become East's main threat after the Leopards lost Malcolm Colbert early in the season. And Brown has flourished in the main scorer role.
    "We were counting on scoring from different areas, and that hasn't worked out, so we have been looking for the last month and a half trying to find someone that can score," East coach Skip Lowe said. "Right now he is the best scorer we have."
    While Brown has been the team's leading scorer, he has been complemented by senior point guard Brady McBride, who is averaging nine points per game. The two guards give the team a solid backcourt that has jelled well this season to make up for a lack of an inside scoring presence.
    "We are more of a perimeter-oriented team than we thought we were going to be or what we have been in the past," Lowe said. "We have had to find some ways to do different things and I think we got guys that look to Christian as a scorer."
    Brown is seeing varsity playing time for the first time but hasn't been intimidated. Part of the reason for that might be because he spent all of last season practicing with the varsity team, and that has helped him fit in with the varsity.
    But it would have been hard for anyone to guess when the 5-foot-9 guard was a sophomore last year that he would thrive in the spotlight this season. Brown is eighth in Class 4A in three-pointers, averaging two per game. Lowe said he has a scorer's mentality and the shot to match that mind-set.
    And like any good shooter, Brown gets his fair share of practice. He said he takes roughly 500 shots after every practice.
    But the junior still has a lot of room to grow, especially in the area of shot selection, Lowe said.
    "I think making decisions on when to shoot it, when to dish it, how to get himself open," Lowe said. "I think he can make better decisions that way and when he does that we will be better for it."
   
   Brown's stripes
    * Christian Brown is averaging 15 points per game for East High.
    * Brown takes 500 shots after the Leopards' practices.
    * Practiced with varsity last year as soph.


Photo by Leah Hogsten/The Salt Lake Tribune