Lahainaluna's Loke Basques drives to the basket against Hilo. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Lahainaluna's Lindsey Bates heads down court against Punahou. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Hilo's Sharlei Graham-Bernisto puts up a shot attempt in the paint against Lahainaluna. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Lahainaluna's Keleah-Aiko Koloi attempts to put up a shot attempt in traffic against Hilo. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Fri, Feb 14, 2014 @ McKinley

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Hilo

47

Lahainaluna

57

Final	1	2	3	4
Hilo (11-2, 19-7)	17	8	8	14	47
Lahainaluna (14-0, 20-2)	11	16	15	15	57

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

L. Basques 17 pts  1 3pm  4/4 FTs

S. Graham-Bernisto 16 pts  2/4 FTs

F. Hafoka 12 tot  4 off  8 def

S. Guthier 5 tot  2 off  3 def

L. Bates 5 ast

A. Pana 5 ast

Lahainaluna is right where it wanted to be: playing in the last game of the season.

Led by a game-high 17 points from senior Loke Basques and a double-double by junior Folau Hafoka, Lahainaluna grinded its way to a 57-47 semifinal win over Hilo Friday night. The Lunas, who remained perfect by improving to 16-0, will try for for their second Hawaiian Airlines/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I state championship in Saturday's 7 p.m. tournament final at Neal S. Blaisdell Center.  They will face unseeded Punahou, which beat Mililani 53-48 in the late semifinal.

In front of a crowd of about 450 fans at McKinley's Student Council Gymnasium, top-seeded Lahainaluna rallied from a six-point deficit at the end of the first quarter and outscored Hilo in the second and third quarters, 31-16.

"I just had to pick it up as a senior," said Basques, who scored 13 of her points after the first quarter. "We all wanted to reach the final, so I had to step up and pull through and do what seniors do best."

Basques made 6 of her 10 field goal-attempts and was 4 of 4 free throws. Hafoka scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds with three steals. Her younger sister, Fiemea Hafoka had 12 rebounds, six points, five assists and a steal.

"We were a little bit nervous at first, we just weren't really into the game at that time," Lunas' coach Todd Rickard said. "I don't think our girls were really focused to tell you the truth, but they had to settle down. They settled down and I think toward the second, third, fourth quarters they started more comfortable and then they started doing what they usually do."

Lahainaluna, the top seed in the 12-team tournament and the No. 1 team in the ScoringLive/OC16 Girls Basketball Power Rankings, closed out the first half on an 11-3 run that turned a 22-16 deficit into a 27-25 lead at the intermission.

A 9-2 third-quarter Lunas' run gave them their largest lead at 43-30. The Vikings pulled within 44-40 with 3:27 to play, but Lahaina answered with a 6-0 run that included back-toback jumpers by Folau Hafoka.

"Hilo is a tough team, I mean, my hats off to them," Rickard said. "Their coaching staff, the players  — they're tough. They never stop, they keep coming and we're the same way. They made a run, we made a run, we made a run, they made a run. It went both ways and we're fortunate to come through with a victory tonight."

Hilo shot 35 percent (10 of 27) from the field, but was just 10 of 22 from the free-throw line and was outrebounded, 52 to 30.

"We were just putting pressure and running fast and that's what we were trying to do, wear them down and just keep pulling through and see who would last the longest," Basques said.

Lindsay Bates scored eight points with five rebounds and four assists and Aloha Salem added seven points.

Sharlei Graham-Bernisto scored 16 points with four rebounds and three steals and Alexis Pana added 11 points, five boards, four blocks and four steals to lead Hilo.

"Down the stretch, we didn't get too many bounces go our way — they let everybody play more than they did last weekend — but both teams played hard and I know they're all going to be exhausted tonight," Vikings' coach Ben Pana said.

Aliyah Pana, the reigning Gatorade state player of the year, was held to four points, three rebounds and two steals. Shalyn Guthier contributed seven points and five rebounds.

Hilo, which is ranked seventh in the SL/OC16 Power Rankings, fell to 13-3 and 0-3 all-time in the state semifinal round. The Vikings, who finished third last year, will play Mililani in the 5 p.m. third-place game Saturday.

Lahainaluna, making its 23rd tournament appearance, will play in its second-ever championship game. The only other time the Lunas played for the state title was in 2010, when they beat Konawaena. They finished fourth in both 2011 and 2012.

It was the second time the teams played this season. Lahainaluna won, 56-45, in a preseason game on the Big Island  on Dec. 7. Friday was the first time the programs ever met in the state tournament.

Interestingly enough, Rickard and Pana are cousins.

"I love the guy — I love his team, I love how he plays — and regardless of what happened, we will support each other," Rickard said of Pana. "Two neighbor-island teams going at it — it's unfortunate this couldn't be the last game of the season, but I'll be pulling for them (Saturday), too."