Pinnacle came out sizzling and Highland came out cold.

That was their Division I girls semifinal in a nutshell on Thursday afternoon. Seniors Sydney Wiese and Britta Nordstrom led a first-quarter charge that saw No. 3 seed Pinnacle bolt to a 17-4 lead and the Pioneers went on to post a 61-49 victory over No. 2 Highland at ASU's Wells Fargo Arena.

Pinnacle (33-2) moves on to its sixth title game in the last seven years yet is still seeking that elusive first title. The Pioneers face the St. Mary's-Hamilton winner later on Thursday for the championship. The title game is set for Saturday Feb. 23 at 2 p.m. at  Jobing.com Arena.

Pinnacle drained 6-of-8 field goals, including three 3s in the opening stanza. Britta Nordstrom and Syndney Wiese combined for all 17 points - 9 and  -- 8, respectively. Highland was 0-for-8 from the field and didn't make its first basket until six minutes remained in the first half.

Wiese and Nordstrom finished with 21 points each and got some offensive assistance in the second half from Kenna McDavis. McDavis struggled with foul trouble in the opening half -- three. In the second half she scored eight of her 11 points, including two more threes. In all Pinnacle made 9 3-point field goals (an impressive 9-of-19 from three-point range for the game).

"We came out slow shooting, that's for sure," Highland coach Miner Webster said, "They shot the ball better than I thought they would. We couldn't guard  them." 

Highland trailed by as many as 16 in the first half and managed to pull within five shortly before halftime at 25-20. The Lady Hawks went to intermission trailing 31-23. Highland stayed within striking distance in the third period and amped up the tension with five minutes left when they got within 49-43 with five minutes to go.

The last gasp Highland had came with just less than four minutes left. Senior guard Olivia Lucero drove for a layup that was waived off due to a moving pick call. That bucket would have made it 49-45. Instead Pinnacle capitalized with McDavis sinking a long three from the left baseline corner and Wiese adding a steal and layup that pushed the margin to 54-43. Game over.

"The great thing about this team is there's so much balance," Pinnacle coach Troy Wiese said. "Sydney and Britta got us going in the first half and Kenna came on in the second. Madie (Rinehart) made a clutch 3 in the fourth quarter, too."

Troy Wiese was humble and somewhat in awe of what has taken place in Pinnacle's three tournament wins.

"Miner and I go back to 1998 when I was at Horizon,"  Troy Wiese said. "This is the first time I've beaten him. He's a great coach and so are (Mesa Mountain View's) Henry (Bribiescas) and (Dobson's) Tyler (Dumas). They've been to title games. I haven't....

"Our getting there (championship) is about the girls. They are the ones who did it."

Highland finished the season 32-3, a year that saw Webster win his 700th game. The Lady Hawks were led by quarterfinal standout Rebecca Rudd, who scored 18 points. Rudd hit for 29 in the quarters. Her hot shooting that night tailed off on Thursday. She made 1-of-8 in the first half and 6-of-16 for the game. Lucero added 11 points in closing out her career.