Dorian Pickens posted numbers fit for an entire game in the first half of Thursday's Division I boys semifinal against Cesar Chavez. The junior swingman connected for 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds the first 16 minutes. He wasn't content.

Pickens fnished with 32 points and 12 rebounds and No. 3 Pinnacle stubbornly stuck to an early lead throughout in knocking off No. 2 Cesar Chavez, 69-59, at Wells Fargo Arena.

It's the first boys basketball championship game appearance in Pinnacle history. Pinnacle was joined earlier in the day on finals night (Saturday Feb. 23) by the girls team. Cesar Chavez, which eliminated Pinnacle in last year's semis, 62-58, in overtime on the way to a runner-up finish, concluded the season 29-3. Pinnacle faces the Desert Mountain-Corona del Sol winner in Saturday's 4 p.m. final at Jobing.com Arena.

"I told (Pickens) earlier today to go for it," Pinnacle coach Charlie Wilde said. "He went out and had a great game. I thought we shared the ball and made the extra pass. Other than a bad shot here or there, we made good decisions."

Pinnacle led 19-12 after the first period and 34-27 at halftime. The lead reached double digits on several occasions in the third period and fourth. Chavez cut the deficit to six a couple times, but could come no closer.

Pickens, who made 12 of 18 shots from the field, got help offensively in the second half from Drew Bender. Bender, who contributed his best half of the state tournament (two tournament games) with 14 points, totaled 16 for the game.

Pablo Rivas led Cesar Chavez with 22 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Will Holt chipped in with 12 points for the Champions.