Prep Basketball Preview: R.A. Long and Mark Morris set for ‘golden age’ Civil War

Pride of Longview —The 150th rivalry game will determine 2A GSHL title ownership

The R.A. Long boys basketball team mingles with the rest of the student section while supporting the Lumberjills in Round I of the season’s Civil Wars at The Lumberdome earlier this season. The Lumberjacks will get to host the Monarchs with a share of the league title on the line, Friday, Feb. 7. — Skyler Smith for Blast Zone Media

Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com

On Thursday night the Mark Morris girls basketball team successfully defended Ted M. Natt Court in a 56-32 win over R.A. Long in the second Civil War of the season. The game was also the regular season finale for both teams and senior night for the Monarchs.

R.A. Long led 11-8 after one quarter but couldn’t maintain that trajectory much longer. Alauna Brown led the Lumberjills with 11 points and Bri Garwood added six.

By halftime the Monarchs led 29-16 and they’d never really let the Lumberjills entertain any ideas of a comeback from there on out.

Kadence Gorans led Mark Morris with 14 points. Reese Johnston and Kea Makaiwi each added 13 points for the Monarchs.

Mark Morris (13-7, 10-4 league) finished the regular season in third place in the league standings. The Monarch will host Black Hills to open the district tournament next Friday.

R.A. Long (6-14, 4-10) wrapped the regular season in sixth place in the league standings. The Lumberjills will play at Tumwater next Wednesday in a do-or-die pigtail playoff game in order to gain entry to the double elimination portion of the district tournament.

For full coverage from the Round II of the girls Civil War check back soon to www.blastzonemedia.com. For a full preview of the boys rendition of the Civil War, keep reading below.

High School Boys Basketball

The 150th Civil War could be the best yet

Mark Morris’ Dalton Stevens looks to initiate the offense during a game against R.A. Long at Bakamus Gymnasium earlier this season. The Monarchs will be looking for revenge, and a piece of the league title, on Friday when they head to the Lumberdome for their regular season finale. — Skyler Smith for Blast Zone Media

By Nick Sisson (N2 Media) and Jordan Nailon (Blast Zone Media)

The powers that be at the combined media center of N2 and Blast Zone are back by popular demand to once again occupy your headspace ahead of Round II of Longview’s Civil War rivalry. The Mark Morris and R.A. Long boys basketball teams are set to tussle Friday night at The Lumberdome, and we’ve got everything you need to know right here to help pass the time until tipoff.

For more than two months your favorite local sports media enterprises have been going back and forth trying to decipher the cryptic messages from our vintage Magic 8-ball. That’s right, the toy we acquired from Kay-Bee Toys in the good old Three Rivers Mall, has been deployed to help us decipher the question of the winter that still remains unanswered.

“Magic 8-ball, who will win the 2A Greater St. Helens League?”

Now, keep in mind this is no ordinary Magic 8-ball. Rather, it is a Pandora’s Box of useless basketball knowledge and analysis. Instead of just supplying us with a simple answer to a complex question, it has been trolling us with replies that can’t be argued with, but also don’t tell us much more than we already know.

For instance, the most recent one-liner we received after asking the aforementioned question and giving it a good shake-up was: “A team from Longview.”

Thanks for the insight, Magic 8-Ball. If I could find the receipt I’d try to return you and take the money to The Cookie Place. Maybe if our preferred piece of pontification had been purchased at The Hobby Store at the ill-fated Triangle Mall it would have been more helpful all these years later.

What We Know We Know

Mark Morris’ Carson Bogner passes away from the defense of R.A. Long’s Payton Thill during Round I of the season’s Civil War. The Monarch will play at R.A. Long on Friday. — Skyler Smith for Blast Zone Media

Both the Monarchs and the Lumberjacks will lay it all on the line in the season’s sequel of one of the greatest rivalries in the state. The teams from Longview’s two public high schools will enter the contest with a combined record of 37-3, with one of those losses existing simply because R.A. Long and Mark Morris have already played head-to-head once this season. That leaves the combined winning percentage between the teams at .925 for the season, with both squads ranked in the top-10 in the 2A classification.

The 150th rendition of the Civil War will see the winner crowned as league champion and awarded the number one overall seed ahead of the district tournament that’s set to begin in just over one week’s time. I know that the last line might be confusing to some, especially the R.A. Long faithful, but we will circle back and revisit that a little further down the article where only paid subscribers may scroll.