The East High boys' basketball team may have been enshrined in the popular culture lexicon thanks to "High School Musical," but inside the Beehive State, they've barely a blip on the radar screen. The Leopards have stumbled to a 3-5 record in region so far, but thanks to an upstart playmaker without a bowl cut, they might have a Troy Bolton of their own.
East's 5-foot-10 shooting guard Chris Brown has been the catalyst to an East team that has been desperately trying to get some momentum on the season.
Brown brings a year of starting experience and leadership to the Leopards. Coach Skip Lowe understands that Brown is at the core of his team staying positive and not throwing the season away.
"I feel like we've been getting better throughout the year. It would be easy for our guys to give up and start separating, but they've done a nice job of coming together and helping each other out, and Chris is in the center of that," said Lowe.
Brown stat sheet shows no sign of giving-up. He is second in the state in three-pointers with monstrous tally of 40 in 15 games, and with 16 points a game, he's seventh in state in scoring. Even so, Lowe is most impressed with his ability to spread the ball around.
"Chris is definitely the one with the most experience, and can help out in a lot of ways other than scoring. He's been doing things for us that a lot of different scorers at a lot of different schools might not always do," said Lowe, "He gives up what he would do individually for the team, and it's a testament to Chris because of the individual things he's given up for us. He's not a guy who tries to force things; he's really a team man."
In the win against Granger, Brown found himself out of the dominant scoring role and saw his average plummet. Brown shot the ball only five times for six points, but the notch in the win column definitely overtakes the loss in the individual scorer's book.
Regardless of how this year turns out for the Leopards, Brown has committed to a LDS mission after he graduates and will shop around for schools afterward.
But for now, Brown is simply focused on playing the best way he knows how.
"I'm just doing my best every time. I'm willing to take the challenge of being the leading scorer, and I like it when I can drive and get my other teammates involved," said Brown. "I can do more than just score. We just have to stick with the game plan because were this close, and now we know how good we can be, and I think the next time around we can get them."
