YAKIMA – They all don’t have to be pretty at state, they just have to fall in the right column.

And for the top-seeded and unbeaten Zillah boys basketball team, that usually means it’s under the W.

The Leopards moved a step closer to their fourth state championship and second 27-0 season in the 10 years under coach Mario Mengarelli with a 68-53 victory against seventh-seeded Chelan late Thursday morning in the Yakima Valley SunDome.

“It’s that time of the year, survive and advance,” Mengarelli said.

Survived they did, including Jayden Saenz’s rolled ankle that initially looked serious, and a shot to a sensitive area of fellow guard X Castilleja.

Next up for Zillah is a fourth meeting this season with SCAC rival and third-seeded Royal, which – speaking of survival – the Leopards twice needed last-second scores to beat.

“It’s the eighth time in two years so it makes my scouting report easy,” Mengarelli said. “I know them, they know us.”

Despite being in the same district and relatively close, Thursday’s meeting between the Goats and Leopards was the first of the season.

Chelan, which won a crossover with the Northeast A out of the District 5 tourney to get to state, gave Zillah all it could handle Thursday.

Luca Faletto scored 17 first-half points for the Goats, who led by two after the first quarter, before the Leopards took a 37-34 edge to the break.

Zillah was able to slow Faletto after the break, holding him to six. Tev Uttech, however, scored 11 of his 21 points in the second half.

Leopards all-state forward Dekker Van De Graaf began his last SunDome stint with a game-high 23 points and seven rebounds.

His teammate Budda Aranda, who transferred to Zillah from Wapato during the summer, debuted at the 1A finals spectacularly. At a stockier 6-foot, Aranda can muscle-up down low, but also has a keen passing eye.

“He uses his body so well,” Mengarelli said “That goes to his IQ, too, he understands where to be and where somebody is going to be open. He anticipates so well.”

The junior totaled 17 points and 10 rebounds for Zillah.

“I’ve worked on that my whole life because I wasn’t always the fastest and I’m a little bit big,” Aranda said.

His transition has been smooth beyond the court.

“The community brought me in and I’ve really been accepted,” he said. “I feel loved by Zillah, everybody looks out for you, and it’s fun to play with the best team in the state.”

Neither team did themselves a favor at the free-throw line. Chelan was just 10 of 27 (37%) while Zillah was a tad worse at 6 of 17 (35%).

Castilleja added 10 points for Zillah, which is in the semifinals for the third straight year, and fifth time in the past 10 tournaments.