McKinley's Dan Villejo puts up a shot against Pearl City. Villejo scored 10 points in a win over the Chargers. Sylvia Lee | SL

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02061647_BBKB-MCK_PC-6832.jpg - Sylvia Lee | SL

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PEARL CITY – When Huthifah Abdel-Jawad is calm and in control, he brings out his team.

Jawad scored 18 of his game-high 24 points in the second half and McKinley held off a late surge by Pearl City in a 57-50 win Friday night in the quarterfinals of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I tournament at the Chargers' gym.

"I'm so proud of him," McKinley coach Duane Omori said of Abdel-Jawad. "One of the things we really stressed with him was keeping his emotions in check. He's our court general, kind of manages our team. When he is calm, our team is calm. He made good decisions. He's like a coach on the court."

The Tigers (10-3) will meet Eastern Division foe Kaiser in a semifinal Tuesday at McKinley. Kaiser beat Kahuku, 40-28, in the other corresponding quarterfinal. With their wins, Kaiser and McKinley have secured state tournament berths. During the regular season, Kaiser beat McKinley, 69-40.

"For us, it's a good challenge," Omori said. "We're happy we're going to states, but at the same time we're really looking forward to playing Kaiser, get another chance at them."

The Chargers (8-3) will play Kahuku in a fifth-place Tuesday. The winner gains a state berth and advances to the fifth-place game on Feb. 11. The OIA has six state berths.

Abdel-Jawad made two of his team's four 3-pointers in the first half and had two regular field goals in the second, but had three steals in the process. But biggest damage he inflicted came at the free throw line, where he was 14 of 17. As the Chargers were making a fourth-quarter charge, the Tigers fed Abdel-Jawad the ball often and he drew fouls in the process.

Two-thirds of McKinley's first-quarter points were from Abdel-Jawad's two treys and one from Jeremy Coloyan. But the Chargers had two 3s of their own from Pierce McMoore and Ryan Yamamoto and trailed the Tigers, 12-10 after the first period.

The Chargers continued to take shots away from the basket and missed as the Tigers opened the second period with an 8-0 run en route to a 25-14 lead at the half.

"We were able to dictate pace of the game," Omori said. "Pearl City, in the third quarter, got into foul trouble early, so it kind of put us in the bonus real early, so we were fortunate to have that we could spread the court out. It builds up our confidence when we dribble drive, get fouls and get to the free throw line."

Pearl City opened the second half with a 3-pointer by Yamamoto, who had three treys in the game. But the Chargers managed only one inside basket in the period as McKinley maintained a 33-22 lead entering the fourth period.

The Chargers finally got aggressive on offense by driving inside. They were able to chip away at their double-digit deficit, cutting it to 52-48 with 44 seconds left on Sape Tupuola's second 3-pointer of the half. The two-possession game made the Chargers foul, but the Tigers made 5 of their last 6 free throws in the last 32 seconds to secure the win.

"In the first half, we weren't aggressive against their zone," Pearl City coach Lionel Villarmia said. "In the second half, we attacked the zone. We got tried to pressure, but their guards are good. We had to pressure because we were so far behind."

With 2:28 left in the third quarter, the Chargers drew their seventh foul, putting the Tigers in the bonus.

The Tigers opened the game with 6-foot-5 center Mark Burke, who scored on the final play of the first period, using his size to take an inbounds pass under the basket for an easy banker. But he was pulled in the second period, as the Tigers elected to sacrifice a big for more speed against the shorter, but speedy Chargers. Still, the Tigers had a height advantage.

"We're not as deep as them," Villarmia said of matching up with McKinley's own speed. "Their guards are 5-11, 6 feet. Our guards our 5-4, but they're a tough team."