Churchill's challenging schedule paying dividends after unbeaten MWL start

Churchill boys basketball coach Kelly Bokn has never been afraid to put together a challenging schedule, even if it means his teams lose a few extra games.

This season has been no different, with the Lancers facing some Class 6A powerhouses at the Les Schwab Invitational in December, and Monday they will travel to Portland to face No. 3 Roosevelt in the Martin Luther King Showcase at Franklin High School.

"I've never scheduled trying to win a bunch of games," Bokn said. "I want to play really good teams and try to help us be the best we can at the end of the year."

So far that strategy is working. Churchill's only losses this season have come against Crescent Valley, the No. 2-ranked team in Class 5A, plus 6A heavyweights Tualatin and Central Catholic. The eighth-ranked Lancers are 9-3 overall and remained unbeaten in Midwestern League play after a 60-36 victory over Thurston on Friday.

Bokn will learn a lot about his team in the coming week, with Churchill set to face Roosevelt on Monday and MWL rival Crater, No. 3 in the 5A power rankings, at home on Friday.

"I like this team a lot," Bokn said. "I really think we have a high potential as long as we continue to play together and work hard and focus on our weaknesses. There isn't anyone on our schedule right now that I feel like if we play well that we shouldn't be in the top end. We're in a good spot."

The Lancers showed Friday why they might be a tough out in the postseason. With a roster of largely interchangeable players built around star guard Samaje Morgan, Churchill has numerous offensive weapons while also having the ability to stifle opponents defensively.

Thurston (2-9, 1-4 MWL) hung around in the first half due to some hot 3-point shooting — the Colts made five threes in the first half, including three from senior guard Miguel Perez — but Churchill blew the game open in the third quarter with smothering defense and an offensive barrage from Morgan, who scored 11 of his game-high 20 points.

"Samaje is kind of the maestro of the team out there, running the show. The other guys are doing a good job of playing their role and complementing each other," Bokn said. "We don't necessarily pass the eyeball test by having a bunch of big, super-strong, super-athletic kids, but we have a bunch of kids that are committed to the team aspect of the game on both sides of the ball and they're being really coachable. That gives us a chance to be competitive every night."

Churchill broke open a close game against Thurston with a 16-5 run in the third quarter, sparked by five straight points from Morgan. The senior made another tough jump shot late in the period to turn a five-point lead into a 43-27 margin heading into the fourth quarter.

Morgan finished with 20 points on 9-of-19 shooting, plus five assists and two rebounds. Pete Pennington and Evan Thompson had 10 points apiece and Cooper Case scored six as Churchill shot 57 percent from the field (24-of-42) and 42 percent from 3-point range (5-of-12).

"Our strength is our team depth, our team chemistry," Bokn said. "This is a team that does a really good job of communicating with each other and finding a way to enjoy each other. I knew that. I could tell that in preseason and they're doing a really good job of hanging in there with each other."

Thurston got 13 points from Perez and eight from Lucas Stutesman, but no other player scored more than five and the Colts managed just 14 points in the second half.

"I was probably most pleased tonight with our team defense," Bokn said. "We've had a little bit of a hard time this year keeping the ball in front of us, so we are really focusing on taking the dribble drive away and making the other team make contested perimeter shots."

The Lancers have weathered their early losses and come out stronger on the other end, a trait Bokn feels will benefit his squad as the season progresses.

"We've had arguably the toughest schedule in 5A," he said. "Going up to Les Schwab and playing Tualatin and Central Catholic, those teams are monsters, so losing to them is not anything that discredits the abilities of these guys. Coming back and beating a good Gresham team and a good Sherwood team — good, solid 6A teams — showed us that we learned from our losses and we got better. We pulled out a couple tough, gritty wins.

"We get to go up on Monday and play in the Martin Luther King Showcase. We're playing Roosevelt and they're another really talented, athletic 6A team from the PIL. It just gives us another opportunity to play really good competition, to challenge ourselves."

Follow Zack Palmer on Twitter @zpalmer_11 or email at zpalmer@registerguard.com. For more sports coverage, visit registerguard.com.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Churchill's challenging schedule paying dividends after unbeaten MWL start