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NEWTOWN SQUARE >> Three weeks into the season, Marple Newtown’s basketball team was still searching for answers to a bevy of questions spawned by an offseason rebuild. Then it was hit with another conundrum: How would that laborious process proceed without the coach who led them to the District One Tournament last season? Illness kept coach Brian Shane away from the Dec. 18 game against Radnor. By Christmas Eve, the Tigers were informed that Shane would take an indefinite leave of absence due to health-related issues. Eric Houck, the JV coach and an assistant athletic director, would be installed as the head man on an interim basis. And the situation hasn’t been ideal, Houck and his players are coping as best as possible.
“It’s kind of tough, but we’re dealing with it as well as we can,” senior forward Marcus Weathers said after Tuesday’s 57-54 loss to Phoenixville in the consolation game of the Marple Holiday Tournament. “Coach Shane was a good coach, but we have Coach Houck now. … We just love his personality; he’s really up and really exciting. He’s always getting us together in practice. He’s very energetic.”
Houck credits his familiarity with the group as a major asset in assuming this midseason challenge. As a teacher, he’s had many of them in class as well as on the court, forging a strong relationship. On balance, it’s a young group with little previous varsity experience, leaving them receptive to a change in instruction. The most difficult aspect from his perspective is the simple logistics of running a varsity and JV with just two bodies instead of the usual three.
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Marple Newtown forward Marcus Weathers, left, tries to defend Penncrest’s A.J. Taylor during a Dec. 11 game. Weathers is one of the senior leaders helping the Tigers transition from the change of leadership of the program, with Eric Houck coaching the team on an interim basis after coach Brian Shane took a leave of absence for health reasons. (Special to the Times/Rob Dudley)
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