2A Prep Boys Basketball: R.A. Long claims outright league title in Civil War clash

Packed House— Lumberjacks defeat Mark Morris 58-52; cut the nets at The Lumberdome

R.A. Long head coach Jeray Key flashes the net to the home crowd after defeating Mark Morris 58-52 in the 150th Civil War to claim the 2A GSHL title outright., Friday, Feb. 7, at The Lumberdome. — Candy Durgeloh for Blast Zone Media

High School Boys Basketball

Jordan Nailon / blastzonenews@gmail.com

LUMBERDOME — Step for step. Pound for pound. Tit for tat. Blow for blow.

Call it what you want to call it, Friday night’s Civil War boys basketball game at The Lumberdome was one for the ages.

It’s rare enough for a game with this much hype to live up to its billing. It’s another thing entirely for 1,339 enthralled spectators to walk away feeling like they’d witnessed something that transcends the normal vibrations of everyday life and defies all ability to adequately describe what, exactly, transpired.

The easy part is to tell you that R.A. Long rebuffed Mark Morris 58-52 on Joe Moses Court in the 150th rendition of the Civil War rivalry contest.

But that’s like giving your friend the studio album of the band that blew your mind in concert. Sure, your friend might come away knowing the band name, and some of the greatest hits, but there’s no way to make their hair stand on end and to force their pulse to rise through a recording. You’ve got to be there in the flesh, exchanging the same rarefied air, and participating in communion with all of the other heads in the house.

So for those of you who were there to see Longview’s Greatest Rivalry, congratulations. You’ve managed to turn the price of admission into something even greater — a memory that can’t be purchased after the fact.

And for those of you who weren’t able to score a miracle ticket for entry, well, now is a good time to remind you; there’s nothing like a live Civil War. But you’ve probably already guessed that much, so let’s see if a whole bunch of words mixed with our best visuals can help fill in the gaps for you.

Let’s allow Mark Morris coach Ken Kelly to tell us how it felt inside the arena, even if it was on the losing end.

“It’s fun. It really is fun. And granted, the result isn’t what we wanted but it’s still a fun atmosphere,” Kelly said. “This is why you coach. This is why you play. You want to be in games like this where there’s a lot of people in the crowd and a lot of energy. A game of runs like it was, those are fun to be a part of.”

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