Churchill boys basketball is this week's Oregon Team of the Week, presented by the Oregon National Guard.
Photo by Brian Murphy
The single most important lessons learned by high school athletes, coaches tell them, are from defeat.
Evidently, the players on the boys basketball team from
Churchill (Eugene) are very intent pupils.
Since back-to-back losses in late December, the Lancers have rattled off 11 straight wins and scored points by the bushel. In their last five games they’ve scored 85, 70, 102, 65 and 73.
And Oregon doesn’t utilize a shot clock.
For their learning curve, 14-2 record and
No. 3 ranking in the state, the Lancers are the MaxPreps Oregon Team of the Week, presented by the Oregon National Guard.
"We really try to emphasize that our defense promotes our offense," said head coach Kelly Bokn. "By defending all 84 feet, we force more possessions and provide ourselves the opportunity to score more. We feel that our conditioning and depth over the course of a 32-minute game will provide opportunities for good scoring runs."
There was absolutely no shame in either of the losses.
David Schedrick, Churchill
Photo by Brian Murphy
The first came to Chicago and national power
Whitney Young, 89-80, and the other came the following night, 67-55, to
Jefferson (Portland), currently 15-1 and Oregon's No. 2 team.
Churchill has been a model of consistency over the years. The program has won state titles in 1995 and 2001, but over the last eight seasons the Lancers have gone 18-7, 21-9, 13-13, 19-7, 15-9, 10-16, 22-6 and 23-5.
They have great balance with four double-digit scorers, led by
David Schedrick, a 6-foot-3 senior shooting guard, at 18.8 points per game.
"David is a talented scorer for our team," said Bokn. "However, if it wasn't for the fact that he plays with some very unselfish players, he would not be the scorer that he is."
Others to average double digits are 6-3 wing
Andrew Smith (12.1), 5-11 point guard
Malik Morgan (11.1) and 6-3 wing
DeShone Brooks (10.8), who had 32 points against Whitney Young.
But these gents aren’t the only capable scorers.
In a recent 102-50 win over North Eugene, no less than six scored at least 10 points, led by Schedrick with 18 and Morgan 16.
Brooks, Smith and 6-2 wing
Kendrick Abraham all had 11 points and 6-1 wing
Tanner Evenson added 10. The Lancers were perfectly consistent by quarter as well with 31, 24, 25 and 22.
Churchill has two games this week, finished off at
Marist (Eugene). With nine seniors on a 12-man roster, this is the season the Lancers will likely make a serious state-title run.
"There are some very talented teams in the state this year. We feel like we are one of those," said Bokn. "Last year, we lost in the finals of the state championships and it stung. If we continue to progress, work hard and stay healthy ... we could have the opportunity again. Our goal is to get to that final game again and compete for a state title."
MaxPreps editorial assistant Kirstin Beal contributed to this report.Do you know a team that deserves
consideration for Oregon Team of the Week? Email us with your
nominations at ORteamoftheweek@maxpreps.com.
