Landlord Admits Countertops Were Already Cracked At Move-in But Still Wants Me To Pay $2,950 For Brand New Ones. Small Claims Worth It?

Location: Phoenix Moved out of an apartment complex in Phoenix end of September after two years. They kept our whole deposit and said we owed another ~$2,300 on top.

Most of it I'm not fighting. Cleaning, paint, carpet, trash, fine. Two things I did fight:

Dishwasher, $450. We'd reported it multiple times and maintenance said it was fine days before we left. They emailed saying all vendor invoices were received and the charge is final and it had to be replaced. When I asked for proof and an invoice, they just removed the charges

Countertop, $2,950 for brand new kitchen counters. They first told me the only issue at move-in was "one small yellow stain." So I went through their own move-in inspection photos and you can clearly see cracks by the sink that were already filled in, plus what looks like the same crack by the stove they're now charging us for.

After I sent them that, the community manager admitted in writing (twice) that the counters had pre-existing cracks. But she says there was "additional cracking," the vendor said it couldn't be repaired, and we pay the full $2,950. Their own lease says they can charge to put the unit back in the condition it was at move-in, which was already cracked.

I've asked over and over for the vendor's assessment, an itemized invoice (it's literally one line, "install new kitchen ctops"), full-res photos, and which cracks they think are new. Nothing. Her last email said she'd be happy to show it all to the AG or a judge, just not to me.

To be fair, I'm not claiming we left it perfect. One crack did show up while we lived there, though I'm pretty sure it's the old filled one opening back up. My issue is paying 100% for new counters when they admit the old ones were already damaged.

I am going to file a case in small claims court. But I did have a few questions though. Should I pay the balance and then go to small claims court, as I do not know the procedure on handling this

Am I being unreasonable here? Anyone gone to small claims over something like this, and did you get anything back? Is it worth it for maybe $1k split between roommates?

TLDR:
Deposit was $1994
Move out Charges: $4300 (450 for Dishwasher + 2950 for counter tops + cleaning,painting etc)
Disputing the Countertop and Dishwasher originally
Dishwasher charges removed after asking for invoice
Countertop charges still remain
Need advice