Xavier's Dominique Nesland and her fellow seniors have been a part of the semifinal experience on plenty of occassions during their careers. The Gators have made it this far three consecutive years, only to come up short of the big game. 

Tuesday night was different.

No. 2 Xavier used a big second half to dispose of 6th seeded Pinnacle, 69-53 in the early Open Division semifinal at Mountain Pointe High School. The Gators return to the championship stage for the first time since 2019.They will face Desert Vista or Hamilton Saturday night at Veterans Memorial Coliseum for a 6pm tip-off. 
"This feels awesome," Nesland said after the game. 
"We"ve worked really hard for this all for years for this all four years, so to finally get past this round feels really great."

Noelle Bofia led Xavier with 17 points, 13 of which came in the first three quarters. Nesland scored eight of her 16 points in the fourth quarter, as the duo catalyzed a 13-2 run in the second half for the Gators, which broke open what had been a competitive game. 
Pinnacle (23-7) trailed 34-29 at halftime, and pulled within one point (40-39) midway through the third quarter when Abby Dean hit one of her five three-point field goals for the Pioneers. 
Bofia countered with seven consecutive points for Xavier, extending the lead to eight points (49-41) entering the fourth quarter. That's when Nesland went to work, scoring seven points in a three minute span, and essentially delivering the knockout punch to Pinnacle. 

Abby Dean and Mia Singstock each scored 15 points for Pinnacle.

Xavier improved to 25-4. The Gators only loss to an Arizona team came against Hamilton during region play. Xavier is 0-4 all time in state championship games  

"Whoever we play is going to be tough," Nesland said of the title game. "No one gets this far without talent and confidence."