It started on the game's very first play, when Prosser's Tayshia Hunt made an on-the-way-up block of a shot by West Valley's Shanique Nilles.

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It ended with -- gulp -- reserves for both teams running out the clock.

What happened in between was the Mustangs doing something to the Spokane-based Eagles that no team had done all season: They beat them.

Prosser's 55-41 victory in the Class 2A state semifinals Friday night, as impressive as it was decisive, planted coach Mark Little's team opposite top-ranked River Ridge (24-1) in Saturday's 9 o'clock championship game in the SunDome.

It will be the Mustangs' first such appearance since 1997. They will seek the school's first girls basketball title since 1989, when Kelly Blair powered Prosser to the Class 1A crown.

"Fantastic, just a remarkable performance by these kids," Little enthused afterward. "They've worked really, really hard all season. And tonight they played so well -- they really have earned this."

Tamara Jones, a tower of strength all game, produced game-high totals of 25 points and 12 rebounds to lead the winners. She also generated an ear-to-ear grin afterward.

"This is so great after getting to the semifinals (and falling short) the past three years," the 5-foot-11 junior said. "We really wanted this."

Hunt added 11 points and joined other Mustangs in seemingly taking turns making big plays.

"Tayshia was great," Jones said, "Helen (Petersen) was playing awesome ... we were playing great defense, making good passes and we weren't turning the ball over."

Nilles, a multitalented 6-0 junior, led the Eagles (24-1) with 23 points and six boards. She displayed no ill effects from taking a hard fall on her right knee the night before against Ellensburg, but struggled wire to wire against timely double teams from Prosser's aggressive but controlled man-to-man defense.

No other West Valley player scored more than Mallorie Schoesler's seven points, and Schoesler, Torrie Finn and 6-0 Hannah Love all fouled out trying to contain the offensively assertive Mustangs.

Despite a substantial height disadvantage, Prosser outrebounded the Eagles 43-33.

The seventh-ranked Mustangs (22-3) began with a 9-3 run that saw Rachel Anderson score on a putback, Hunt hit two free throws and then a 3-pointer and Jones add two more from the foul line.

They led 11-6 at the break, 24-17 at halftime and 37-31 after three quarters with Jones scoring 12 of her team's 14 points during a portion of the second half.

In the final period, Prosser steadily added to its lead, then got a 3-ball from Anderson, who followed with a transition bucket off a feed from Petersen for a 46-35 advantage with 5:16 left.

West Valley was still within 48-41 after Nilles' driving banker with 2:36 to play, but the Mustangs finished with a 7-0 burst punctuated by Hunt's steal and ensuing layup.

"I'd say this would have to at least be one of our best games of the year, if not the best," Little said. "But we'd like to play an even better one tomorrow night."