The upstart Betty Fairfax Stampede vs. the veteran Sunrise Mountain Mustangs.

Neither one disappointed. But only one can advance to Friday’s 5A girls’ state championship game at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

The Mustangs won Tuesday’s see-saw battle 54-53, but the Stampede aren’t done. The team without any seniors and juniors learned some valuable final minute lessons that should benefit it in the future.

For Sunrise Mountain, its seniors will get a chance to atone for the team’s state championship loss in 2020.

“It was stressful,” coach Jennifer Tolle said. “It was such a great game. You had two really good teams. I’m proud of our effort on the defensive end and our focus and communicating through our screens. I thought our girls stayed calm throughout the entire game.”

Betty Fairfax failed to score after running two inbound plays in the final 10.7 while trailing 54-53.

Sunrise Mountain’s Mackenzie Dunham stole the first inbound pass and poked away the ball from a player after the second inbound pass, leaving Betty Fairfax with a game-ending desperation heave that missed its mark.

The eventual game winning points were scored with 26 seconds remaining after a defender slapped the ball out of Dunham’s hands. But the ball wound up in senior Reena Bhakta’s hands, who converted a baseline lay in for the 54-53 lead.

“This is amazing,” Bhakta, a senior, said. “This is all I’ve wanted since my freshman year, and it’s finally happening.”

The biggest lead in Tuesday’s competitive contest was five points, which Sunrise Mountain held at 7-2 and 24-19.

There were 12 lead changes, as each team took turns making big plays and mini-runs. Dunham, her team’s leading rebounder and second leading scorer this season, was in foul trouble, but Savanna Dotray (18 points) and Mackenzie Nielson (14 points) were two of the players that stepped up for 26-5 Sunrise Mountain, the No. 3 seed.

For Betty Fairfax (24-6), low post force Dianalynn Howell (14 points) and sharp shooter Savannah Helms (20 points) led the way for their team. In Friday’s final, Sunrise Mountain will play another young squad, No. 1 seed Canyon View, for the first time this season in an all West Valley matchup.

“I appreciate reaching the final more now than when I was a freshman,” Dunham, a senior, said. “My sophomore year is when it hit me. That’s when I said, ‘OK. We need to work to get this.’”