A slow burn is still going to get hot eventually.

Raymond S. Kellis had to warm up its second girls basketball state title, and the Cougars took over in the second half to beat Horizon 52-40 on Friday for the 5A state championship game Friday at Arizona Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum.

Kellis, seeded fifth, went on a 16-2 run to close out the third quarter to erase a 22-21 deficit to take a 37-24 lead after three quarters. The Cougars made 7 of 14 shots in the third quarter to overcome an atrocious two quarters.

“We talked about being outside of yourself,” Kellis coach Shanelle Balark said. “The moment is bigger than just you. Do the right thing for your teammates. Adjusted our defense a little bit to shake them up. And it all came together in the second half.”

Kellis (22-7) shot 7 for 43 in the first two quarters, including one possession it missed six shots before No. 2 Horizon grabbed the rebound.

The turnaround was mostly attributed to MVP Luz Marian Santos Mas, who had 18 points and 17 rebounds, and Shanielle Mallory Frias, who went coast-to-coast for layups and then hit a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter to slow a Husky comeback.

“We were really nervous about being on the big stage and we just had to settle down,” Santo Mas said. “We needed to refocus on everything we’ve been working on, and we did that.”

The win elevated the Cougars to matching the 2009 squad as the only state champions in program history.

 “Losing last year hurt a lot,” Santos Mas said. “We knew we were good, and we just had to prove ourselves. We wanted that championship.”

Horizon, making its first state championship appearance, last led 22-21 on Rylee Kimball’s 3-pointer at 6:17 of the third quarter. The Huskies (23-9) went cold and miss nine straight shots before finally making a basket near the end of the eight minutes.

“We were really shooting the ball well in the playoffs,” Horizon coach Chris Young said. “It’s frustrating to not see the ball go in tonight. They’ve played extremely hard this year, and to get here for the first time is pretty special and I am extremely proud of them.”

It was pretty uncharacteristic of Horizon’s play all year and sadly came at time when the Huskies (23-9) had a chance to make program history.

“Their legacy of the being first team to ever get this far is something they can hang onto,” Young said. “They will always be remembered for it as they should be.”

The 2025-26 girls basketball season was historic for the Horizon, which made its first championship game. (Jason P. Skoda/AZPreps365)

The Huskies were led by Peyton Schlitz with 11 points and 11 rebounds, and Kenzie Fields added 10 points, while Paisey Perkins had nine points and eight rebounds.

Kellis was able to turn it around in the third quarter and finished it off behind the play of Luz Santos Mas and Frias, who had 13 points, five rebounds and three steals. The Cougars had other contributions from Janelle Walker (9 points, 4 rebounds and 6 steals) and Jeorgia Parks-Rodriguez (8 points, 8 rebounds).

The Cougars were not only a little sluggish to start the championship game, but also the season and Balark let a little doubt creep in about the team’s ability to win it all.

“It’s crazy because when started off a little slow I thought to myself, ‘I don’t think we’re going back," she said. " 'We just don’t have the heart yet.’

“Then something clicked in the postseason. We came out and they played the best basketball of their lives. I was like, ‘What a perfect time.’ ”

Frias said last year loss to Canyon View was part of the impetus to cutting down the net a season later.

“We lost the state championship, and we knew could do it,” she said. “We had a group discussion and knew what we had to do to do better. It’s a great feeling now. I’m a senior so I am so happy. I love them and they are my best friends.”

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