SOAP LAKE - A key Central Washington South 2B match up paired both the Warden Cougars and the Soap Lake Eagles in a battle to see who could keep pace near the top of the standings.

Warden would take a 32-24 halftime lead and slowly bump the margin up into double digits to hold on for a 70-58 win on Friday night.

"I knew this renewed rivalry would be a grind for us and I tried to prepare the team for it," Warden head coach Wes Richins said. "Give Soap Lake a lot of credit, they never gave up and hit some big shots in the fourth to keep it close.  Road games in this league are going to be real tough, and we have to be ready to play in a hostile environment every night."

Eden Duarte led Warden (3-6, 1-1) with 14 points and six rebounds off the bench.

"Eden had a great game," Richins said. "He's been banged up this last week but showed a lot of toughness coming out and putting forth a great effort."

Marcelo Pruneda added 11 points and Ty Jesse and Garritt Marks each scored 10 points to help pace the Cougars.

"It was a pretty good game for most of it," Soap Lake head coach Bill Pierce said. "I liked the way they came back and played all night."

Soap Lake (2-8, 0-3), who lost the following night 64-54 at Entiat, were led by David Coreas' 21 points and the 16-point effort of Jason Korneychuk against the Cougars. No stats from the Entiat game were available.