It was quite a day for Waterloo West and coach Tony Pappas.

The Wahawks beat West Des Moines Valley 58-48 to reach the Class 5A state championship game and gave Pappas his 600th victory at the school.

Sixth-seeded West rattled off the first eight points of the game, built a 16-2 lead late in the first quarter and the seventh-seeded Tigers never caught up.

It will be the first appearance in the title game since 2002 for West (23-2), which will face top-seeded and unbeaten Johnston at 6 p.m. Friday. West lost to Ankeny in that 2002 championship game and also lost to the Hawkettes in its only other appearance in the finals, in 1999.

KeAnna Levy, who will be inducted into the IGHSAU Hall of Fame on Saturday night, played on the 2002 West team.

The Wahawks had excellent balance, with four players scoring in double figures. Sierra Williams, a junior and one of the state’s top Division I college prospects, led with 21 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Another talented junior, Halli Poock, added 13 points and four steals, Sierra Moore had 11 points and 12 rebounds and Brooklyn Smith contributed 10 points and eight rebounds. It was the second double-double of the tournament for Moore, who had 17 points and 10 rebounds in a quarterfinal victory over Ankeny Centennial.

Valley (19-6), a two-time state champion, was denied a fifth trip to the finals. The youthful Tigers missed eight of their first nine shots and never got much going offensively until making a run in the fourth quarter.

Sophomore Elan Litt led with 14 points, while Elise Jaeger had 11 points and 15 rebounds, giving her 32 rebounds in her two games at state. Meredith Rieker, the team’s only senior, also scored 11.

West dominated inside and got several fastbreak layups in its early surge. The Wahawks led 20-6 after one quarter and were up 46-26 after Poock hit a 3 from the left corner late in the third quarter.

The Tigers finally began to slice into the lead when they turned up the defensive intensity with some traps and double teams. A 10-2 run drew the Tigers to 52-43 and they were down 54-45 after Jaeger hit a jumper with 2:24 remaining.

But West held Valley to one basket the rest of the way and wrapped it up with two free throws by Moore and two more from Williams, who finished 9-for-10 at the line.

Pappas is now 600-352 in 42 years at West and 632-380 overall.