YAKIMA — For the first time in five years, Ellensburg will not play in the Class 2A girls championship game.

This time it will be CWAC rival Prosser in Saturday’s title game after the third-seeded Mustangs powered their way past No. 7 Ellensburg 64-42 in Friday’s semifinals at the Yakima Valley SunDome.

Junior Herbie Wright led the charge with 21 points and 13 rebounds, helping Prosser avenge a loss to the Bulldogs in the 2024 semis. With the win, the third-seeded Mustangs accomplished something they haven’t done in each of the past five seasons: make it out of the round of four.

“We’ve been in the semis five straight years, and to finally get over the hump is a huge testament to the girls in that locker room,” said third-year head coach Jessica Huntington. “They’ve really built up a great culture, and they have believed since day one that they could get to the championship game. But we know our job isn’t done. We want to go in there and take care of business tomorrow night.”

The Mustangs won the 2011 championship and will try  to take down two-time defending champion Lynden, which defeated No. 4 seed Clarkston in the other semifinal for its 74th straight win.

Friday’s convincing win marked the fourth time this season that Prosser has beaten its league rival. Wright said being so familiar with their opponent helped the Mustangs take that elusive next step at state.

Amelia Chapman and Keelyn Cox each scored 12 and Deidra Phillips added nine as the Mustangs finished 42.9% (21 of 49) from the floor.

“Our goal was to slow down Bella (Standish) and get the ball out of her hands,” Wright said. “We weren’t hitting our shots in the first half, but we knew they would start to fall eventually. We decided that we needed to keep taking the ball to the rim, drawing fouls and making our free throws. We just kept pushing through the adversity and put everything together at the end.”

Ellensburg took control early, building a six-point lead midway through the first quarter. Prosser came roaring back in the second, however, with Cox hitting four 3-pointers in the frame to help the Mustangs build a 12-point halftime lead.

The Bulldogs started the second half on an 8-0 run and got to within three, but Prosser answered with its own eight-point run to go up 47-36 heading into the fourth. The lead swelled to 20 with 1:40 remaining, and Ellensburg never got any closer.

Standish finished with 17 points and five rebounds, and Ellie Markus scored nine, but the Bulldogs struggled from the field, going 14 of 51 (27.5%).

Ellensburg coach Austin Smith said he was proud of his team’s effort despite coming up short of their ultimate goal.

“We’re competitors and we want to win, but Prosser is a great team and they have really sharpened it up late in the season,” he said. “It’s fun to battle through tough tests like this, and I feel like it will make us stronger in the end.”

The Bulldogs (21-6) will take on Clarkston in the third-place game Saturday at 11:15 a.m. Prosser (24-3), meanwhile, will be looking to clear the final hurdle at 5 p.m. Saturday against Lynden.

“We’re excited, but we’ve got one more to go,” Wright said. “We’ve wanted this since day one and we’re finally here. It means so much, but we know our work isn’t done.”