Samaje Morgan of Churchill scores game-high 26 points at WAVOR boys basketball all-star game, makes Eugene proud: ‘We have some really good players down there’

By René Ferrán | Photo by Ken Waz 

The Oregon team for this year’s WAVOR all-star boys basketball game at Liberty High School in Hillsboro had a more statewide flavor than past years. 

Six of the 10 players came from outside the Portland area, including Churchill guard Samajé Morgan — the only Eugene-area player and only player not from a Class 6A school on the roster.

Morgan, who led the Lancers to a third-place finish at last month’s Class 5A state tournament in Corvallis, made the most of his opportunity, scoring a game-high 26 points and hitting on 4 of 6 three-point attempts in Oregon’s 128-98 loss to their Washington rivals.

“I mean, we don’t get that much coverage or hype down in Eugene, or even 5A,” Morgan said. “But like I told people, we have some really good players down there, so it was nice to be able to represent them and show that there’s more talent out there. So, I’m pretty grateful to be out here.”

Next for Morgan is the chance to play for his older brother, Emanuel, an assistant coach at the College of Idaho in Caldwell, which won a school-record 32 games this season and reached the quarterfinals of the NAIA championships. 

Samajé talked to a couple other schools, but the tug of his family ties was too strong.

“They almost won the national championship this year, so I want to go there and try to win it with him,” he said. “And Coach Kelly (Bokn, who retired from Churchill this year), he’s moving out there, too, so he’s going to be at all my games. So, it was just the best fit for me.”

The Bend area had three representatives in Sunday’s game — Summit’s standout duo of Caden Harris (13 points, three rebounds) and Julian Mora (four points) and Mountain View’s Tane Prictor (10 points, four rebounds).

North Medford’s Bryce Dyer, a late addition to the roster, scored two points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, and Sprague post Dallon Morgan had five points and five rebounds.