High School Boys Basketball: Breaking down the Civil War nobody's talking about

Talkin' Basketball – The official N2 Media preview for R.A. Long and Mark Morris fans

Jan 13, 2026

R.A. Long’s Jeff Rooklidge puts up a three-point shot during a win over Woodland, Wednesday, Jan. 9, while Nick Sisson of N2 Media casts his livestream front and center from the upper deck of The Lumberdome. Sisson will also be on the call for the Civil War on Tuesday. / Photo by Benjamin Hendrickson for Blast Zone Media

Nick Sisson of N2 Media special to Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com

Prep Boys Basketball / Preview

Greetings Blast Zone family!

Your local, favorite live-streamer has been hard at work juggling the likes of streaming local basketball events and coaching on the fifth-grade tournament basketball circuit, all while trying to remain a decent husband and holding on to some semblance of what being a good father might look like in 2026.

Don’t blame me if I’m failing in any category. After all, I grew up taking my cues from Danny Tanner, Carl Winslow, Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor and the rest of the T.G.I.F. lineup of years gone bye.

Speaking of what used to be; Is it actually true that the best days of the Civil War might be behind us? Sources indicate that the rivalry might have already peaked after a 2024-25 season that saw rivals Mark Morris and R.A. Long play for the highest stakes the Civil War has seen in any season.

The Monarchs and Lumberjacks mixed it up four times last year, with the Lumberjacks claiming all four victories, including a two-point win over the Monarchs in the State quarterfinals. In Game 2, they played for a league championship. Game 3, they played for a District championship. And in Game 4, they played for a berth to the State semifinals and a guaranteed trophy to bring back to Longview.

Oh, and none of the latter three contests were blowouts. In fact, R.A. Long Civil War legend Payton “Python” Thill broke a 50-50 tie game on two different occasions with cold-blooded three-pointers that helped catapult R.A. Long ahead for good in Games 2 and 3.

Perhaps the biggest shot from last season’s Civil War series came at the Yakima SunDome with Mark Morris trailing by two and just a few seconds remaining on the clock. R.A. Long lost track of their defensive rotation and the MM’s Nate Stephens got a wide-open shot from the wing in front of the Monarchs’ bench. But while the would-be game winner was online, it was just a bit long and bounced off the back iron. That miss meant the Lumberjacks were finally able to go into full celebration mode at the end of a Civil War win, and they wound up finishing third overall.

Meanwhile, Mark Morris continued to play the next day and clipped Franklin Pierce to guarantee themselves a trophy. The Monarchs wound up in sixth place after a tough loss to Columbia River on the final day of the season.

It was the first time in the history of the rivalry that both schools brought home State basketball hardware simultaneously.

So where do we go from here?

Obviously, both teams are still very much interested in filling out the blank pages in the rivalries’ storybook with happy chapters for their side. And they’ll aim to get the next episode started tonight at The Lumberdome with the first meeting of the season.

But I’ve got to be honest here; This year’s Civil War kind of crept up on me.

For the past few seasons, I can’t recall the chatter surrounding this matchup being this quiet. I would usually always be asked, “Who do you think will be winning the Civil War this year?” Or, “Why do you think we’re going to lose to such and such?”

This year leading up to the game? Crickets.

R.A. Long (12-0, 6-0 GSHL) might be the reason why we haven’t heard a whole lot of chatter surrounding the first Civil War of the 2025-26 season.

“I’ve been apart of a lot of Civil War games and records at this point don’t matter,” said R.A. Long coach Jeray Key. “A rivalry game is always a good game and these types of games are always about a lot pride.”

Historically, Longview’s original high school has been the school on the wrong end of the stick against their cross-town rivals from Mark Morris. But something has changed drastically over the past six or seven (SIX-SEVEN!) seasons. Now, it finally feels like the shoe is on the other foot.

R.A. Long has won 11 of the last 15 meetings and it only prognosticates to get more lopsided in the immediate future. The Jacks are coming off a season that saw them win more games, and bring home the biggest trophy, in school history. Throw in the fact they have been to Regionals four straight years, to State three out of those four, and they’ve got two semifinal appearances for good measure, and the Jacks appear to have reversed the historic pecking order.

Lumberjack's’ head coach Jeray Key has built a program that feasts on teams that fold to their defensive pressure. Sure, coach Key was blessed with a generational offensive talent in Cavin Holden amongst several other popular Lumberjacks in recent seasons, but I think it’s truly time to acknowledge that Key has been busy developing several talented players per season that buy into his defensive philosophy and that has more to do with winning and sustaining the program’s run of recent success.

“It’s always a lot of fun, regardless of which team is ranked where,” MM head coach Ken Kelly said. “Coach Key has done a great job with this particular group and I think everyone saw them having at least a two-year window to compete for the top spots in the league, District, or even the state. They are making good on that potential, for sure.”

Mark Morris (4-8, 2-4 GSHL) is currently holding on for dear life in a tie for fifth place in the 2A GSHL standings. However, if seeding were based off how things stand at high noon today, Mark Morris would be sixth and looking at a pigtail game in the opening round of Districts.

There isn’t any light and fluffy way to put it, so I’ll just write it down and let the chips fall (hard) where they fall. The rivalry is always best when both teams are good and playing well going into the game.

The Monarchs have had their struggles this year, but that was expected after seeing ten seniors graduate last June. But it still feels different this season from the perspective that Mark Morris is almost always good. I mean, this is a program that has been to the playoffs (or at least a play-in to a pigtail game in that one time) for 57 straight seasons! They’ve won countless league championships, District championships, and have even brought home the biggest trophy on the shelf from the State tournament three different times.

There is just so much history attached to Mark Morris basketball. And that’s why it has almost always felt like an uphill battle for R.A. Long over the course of the rivalry. The Monarchs won the first-ever Civili War (41-38 in 1958) and lead the all-time series 107-46 against the Jacks.

But none of that matters anymore. If you ask some observers, the Monarchy is at risk of officially being over.

Sure, Mark Morris still has time to get things going this year. And we shouldn’t ever be thinking of closing the book on their chances at winning Longview’s biggest rivalry so quickly. But the Lumberjacks have moved past the mystique of simply beating Mark Morris. In fact, it’s kind of become a regular sort of thing.

That might be hard to stomach if you happen to be a fan of Mark Morris, but it really feels like R.A. Long’s recent success has managed to cast a shadow over a game that used to serve as a community spotlight.

What’s most important to mention here is that nobody inside the locker rooms of either team is thinking about any of this stuff any longer than the media forces them to. For them, it’s just another game. Or at least, just another rivalry game they’ll never forget. Of course they want to, and believe they can, win. Nobody ever wants to drop a game to their cross-town rival.

“I think the greatest thing about the Civil War is the fact it feels the same, regardless of the records or yearly status of a certain team,” Kelly said. “We had a long unbeaten run against them that lasted 13 or 14 years, but always got their best shot. We’ve traded blows the last five or six years.”

Game 1 Outlook

Ok, now that we’ve got the villagers in baby blue marching the streets of Commerce with their torches and pitchforks, let’s try to forecast how things will play out inside the muggy Lumberdome this evening.

R.A. Long will win if –

To keep in simple, the Lumberjacks will win if Mark Morris comes in under 50 points tonight. The Jacks are historically good when holding teams below this number. Defense rules the roost on the surface of Joe Moses Court and the Jacks have accomplished this in every game this season except for two. One was an exhibition against Australia that saw the Jacks threaten to start the running clock in the second quarter before extending a more diplomatic approach, and the other was a 25-point win at home against Woodland last week, 77-52.

Visiting teams have been, quite frankly, treated like unsolicited visitors this season.

Mark Morris will win if –

It doesn’t feel quite as simple as just picking one or two things that Mark Morris can outperform their rivals at. The fact is, the Monarchs are more than several statistical categories short of a clear path to victory. But if you twist my arm, the answer would be that the Monarchs must play loose and confident, and they must win the rebounding and turnover categories.

Winning the hustle plays and fifty-fifty balls will be just as critical for Mark Morris in order to keep the home crowd out of it and the momentum from swinging toward the red and black attack. It’s going to take a full thirty-two minute effort for the Monarchs, but a victory could well be within reach if they can ride out the first half.

R.A. Long Players to Watch

The four main senior Lumberjacks this season — in no particular order Landon Irwin, Josh Crane, Cam Newsome, and Jeff Rooklidge — are amongst the best quartets in the state. They can each get you 20+ points a night and are incredibly unselfish players.

Crane and Newsome have never lost a Civil War, are both on the record noting the rivalry games are the dates on the schedule they look forward to the most. They clearly get it.

Meanwhile, Irwin and Rooklidge have a slightly different perspective of the rivalry. Those life-long Lumberjacks were on the losing end against MM as freshman and sophomores, so they know all too well these games can go either way in the blink of an eye.

Mark Morris Players to Watch

It starts with senior point guard Drew Ibarreta for the Monarchs, and is quickly followed by junior post (and Kelso transfer) A.J. Fabian.

Ibarreta continues to bring his lunch pale to the job site every night and set a career-high in scoring at 33 points earlier in the season against Castle Rock. He does so much for Mark Morris, and some say he will be on the list of top point guards in program history before it’s all said and done.

Meanwhile, Fabian is still writing his story after just getting started a few weeks back against Columbia River. Standing six-foot seven-inches, Fabian provies the sort of length and athleticism that made an immediate impact upon arrival. In his first varsity game he went toe-to-toe with Luca Phillips of Columbia River. Fabian has also already gone over 30 points against Black Hills, so expect him to be the first relief valve for Ibarreta agains the Jacks.

Zane Armstrong has also proven to be a solid opportunistic option on offense. With the second most varsity time on the team entering the season, Armstrong has also provided much-needed grit for the MM defense.

R.A. Long X-Factor

For fear of bending the rules a bit, the Coates brothers are my choice. I’m looking at it like its Little League Draft rules here. I get the brother-option with my pick, and they will both have an impact on the result. Older brother Brenner Coates is the man in the middle for R.A. Long and will most likely draw the assignment of guarding Fabian down low. On the outside, freshman Cash Coates is a sharp shooter off the bench for the Jacks and like a microwave — he can heat up quickly.

Mark Morris X-Factor

The Monarchs desperately need a third, reliable scoring option to win tonight game.

I’ve always liked Maddox Mobbs and his athleticism. He’s played very well in the JV version of the Civil War the last two seasons, and I have this gut feeling he’s going to have an impact on the big stage tonight.

Mobbs has proven to be a double-double threat for the Monarchs lately. You’ll find him most likely at the four position, and he does have the ability to bring defenders out to the three-point line and knock them down.

The N2 Media Prediction

R.A. Long is just too good right now.

Last week they emerged unscathed after playing. No.2 Woodland, No. 5 River, and formerly Top-10 Ridgefield, while holding each opponent to no more than 52 points.

There is absolutely no shot they are overlooking the Monarchs in any capacity. And so long as they can maintain their focus, the Jacks should have no problem making it five straight wins over Mark Morris.

Jacks 68-49

— Nick Sisson, N2 Media

The Blast Zone Media Prediction

As much as I’d like to add some color to this game by dropping my endorsement of Mark Morris in this space, I just can’t squint hard enough to see it happening.

The Monarchs are much improved from the beginning of the season, but the Jacks never fell off. I do believe Mark Morris has what it takes to keep things close for perhaps 75% of the time, but the R.A. Long offense is simply too talented and too deep to keep contained at all times.

The best the Monarchs can hope for tonight is to stay within punching range, and try to build up confidence for the rematch later this season. If they can keep their eyes open while they punch, the boys in baby blue just might find a blueprint for success they can use in Round II.

Jacks 83-59

— Jordan Nailon, Blast Zone Media

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