BY KEN MORSE
CITIZEN’S NEWS
Sometimes even when you are thousands of miles away from home you feel at home. Prospect native and former Woodland basketball star Morina Bojka spent an exciting year over in Albania playing professional basketball for KS Tirana.
Tirana is the capital city of Albania and home of Bojka’s grandparents, so this wasn’t her first time visiting the country. Morina took full advantage of her first year of professional basketball, leading KS Tirana to the Albanian Super League championship and being named the MVP of the finals.
“We beat the team that had won the championship for the past 25 years,” said Bojka. “The exciting part was in game one on their home court I hit the winning three pointer with 12 seconds left. Their coach was so mad she threw her jacket to the floor knowing it was over right then and there.”
KS Tirana went on to beat Flamurtari Vlore in the best-of-five series, 3-1. Tirana won game two, 60-53, with Bojka tossing in a game-high 23 points. Flamurtari won game three back on their home court, 63-60. Back at home, Tirana closed the deal in convincing fashion with a 71-51 trouncing of the 25-time champions.
“I only scored 12 points in the final game because I was in foul trouble,” said Morina. “The other team was really mad at me because every game I made someone bleed but it was by accident. One of my teammates and I were always in foul trouble because we play hard.
“I had never met my coach
before, but she picked up my sisters (Andra and Hana) and I at the airport. On the ride I asked her who the best team was and she said Flamurtari and they won 25 years in a row. I told her not this year we are winning it.”
Bojka came over to Albania with a confident game after being named the Skyline Conference Player of the Year for Mount Saint Mary in Newburgh, N.Y. Bojka led the Knights to a 72-4 conference record (88-23 overall) while scoring 1,227 career points.
“It took a while to get going,” Bojka said. “In the first game of the season we lost our point guard to an ACL injury. By mid-season, we started to come together and once we did, we were unstoppable.”
Bojka finished the season scoring a total of 538 points (15.4 per game) with 239 rebounds (7.0), 85 assists and 78 steals. Tirana competed in two leagues and compiled a 27-10 record for the season, going 18-3 in the Albanian Super League and 5-5 in the Albanian/Kosovo League.
Bojka also showed she is not just a run-of-the-mill player. She can take over a game and broke the 20-point mark 10 times, including a season-high of 30 with a season-high of 13 rebounds. She finished fourth in the league in scoring and made second team All-League honors.
“It was so much fun living over there and playing with such an amazing team,” Bojka said. “I lived with two of my teammates, Enisa Qosja and Klea Verri. They were just great. They showed me around and one of them got us tickets from her boyfriend who plays on the National soccer team. They take soccer very serious over there and it’s just a great city.”
Bojka was supposed to be playing for the national team but ran into some passport issues. Her plan is to go back and play next season for Tirana and also play for the national team.
“I should be getting my passport soon,” Bojka said. “I told my Dad that when I go next season I’m not coming home and staying for the summer. I could just get married and live over there and just play basketball. I would be okay with that, but I also worked too hard for six years in college to get a Masters degree and not explore what that could lead to.
“For now, I’m having the time of my life living in such an amazing city and playing professional basketball. I’m really excited for next season and the opportunity to play for the national team.”
