Fire and ice.

As hot as the Sanders Valley girls shot the basketball in the first half of their Division III semifinal on Friday (Feb. 22), they seemingly were twice as cold in the second half.

Still, the Pirates managed to survive and slipped past Fort Defiance Window Rock 55-52, to advance to Saturday’s (Feb. 23) state championship game at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale.

Valley (27-3), the second seed, will face either top-seeded Winslow or No. 12 Holbrook for the title. Tip-off is at 8 p.m. Third-seeded Window Rock finished 21-10.

Valley shot 57.1 percent from the floor (16 of 28) in the first half and knocked down seven 3-pointers for a 43-27 lead at halftime. Valley had won two of three previous meetings with the Fighting Scouts.

The Pirates switched ends for the second half, looking at the north end of the arena, and their mojo was gone. Window Rock’s intense pressure defense had a lot to do with it.

Valley made just four of 20 shots from the field, just one of nine from 3-point range and just three of seven from the free-throw line.

With Aspen Shepherd playing a brilliant all-around game under the basket and getting help inside from Arianne Sheka, Window Rock used its height advantage to battle back.

The teams traded turnovers in the final three minutes after Window Rock had pulled within 53-50 on a basket by Shepherd. She scored again with 21 seconds remaining to make it 53-52, but Tamara Nez scored on a follow shot to make it 55-52. Window Rock couldn’t set up for a good shot after that.

Point guard Adriana Nez did a good job running the offense for Valley. She scored 17 points. Kristan Quigley scored 13 points for the Pirates, including four 3-pointers.

Window Rock had a whopping 45-20 rebounding advantage. Shepherd matched Valley’s team total on her own, and Sheka had 15.

Valley coach Julia Six, a former player at the school, seemed relieved to get her team off the floor with a win.

“It was about the girls wanting it, wanting to win,’’ she said. “This (reaching the final) is a huge accomplishment for us. All of these girls have played hard.’’

Valley has not won a title before. The school reached the then-Class 3A title game in 1980, falling to Morenci.

“I told the girls, “You have a chance to make history,’ ’’ Six said.