“It’s the league championship, and both of us obviously have to win out, but it’s going to be a scrap,” girls’ coach Vince Glondo said. “I think it’s going to be a rivalry: They’re young like we are, freshmen and sophomores, so it’s going to be a battle throughout the next three years. We’ve just got to manage their press and score some points.”

The girls survived Mabton 47-44 Dec. 16, 2022, at Walter Strom Middle School in Cle Elum before the defending West champion boys ran through the Vikings 75-35.

“I really learned that our ceiling is really high,” said Glondo after the first West stretch. “I have really high expectations, and they’ve really exceeded that. I’ve learned that we’re young and we do some weird stuff sometimes, so we’re trying to coach that. And I’ve also learned that I’ve had a couple girls step up who weren’t quite there in the beginning of the season, and it’s been really fun.”

The Warrior girls and boys will also host Kittitas in a 6 p.m. alumni game doubleheader Saturday after the Coyote girls took the first meeting 46-41 Dec. 17, 2022, and the Cle Elum-Roslyn boys won 84-32.

“That sophomore class has always battled with our sophomore class, and we went down there and we were asleep, quite honestly,” Glondo said. “We didn’t show up to play so, I’ll be honest, there’s going to be some electricity in the building on Saturday, and it’s going to be a fun game.”

In the meantime, the Warrior girls put away Class 1B No. 9 Yakama Nation Tribal (13-2) with a 43-24 decision as the boys finished their 22nd-ranked Eagle counterparts (9-6) in 73-34 fashion.

For the girls, Gracie Glondo, a 5-foot, 7-inch freshman guard and Vince’s daughter, led with 21 points on 10 of 18 shooting — 9-of-16 field goals and 1-of-2 from 3-point range — with five rebounds and a pair of steals. Nellie Nicholls, a 5-foot-10 eighth-grade forward (10 points, an assist, eight rebounds and five steals) helped Cle Elum-Roslyn lead 22-13 at intermission and 36-17 through three quarters.

For the boys, Jett Favero, a 5-foot-10 senior guard, went for 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting — 6-for-12 field goals, 2-for-3 from downtown and 2-for-3 from the free throw line — with two assists, three rebounds and four steals. Joel Kelly’s 19-point, two-assist, three-block, 15-rebound, one-steal double-double and Luke Chafin’s 10 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals helped their side jump out 21-9 through one, 41-16 at the break and 50-21 through three.

“Mabton is very well-coached, and I’m sure they have continued to develop over the season,” boys’ coach Eric Terrill said. “It’s always harder to play a team the second time around, especially on the road. We will need to continue to play lockdown defense over the next several games.”