Lahainaluna's Mea Hafoka drives to the basket for a layup against Maryknoll. Hafoka finished with a game-high 18 points in the win. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Thu, Feb 12, 2015 @ McKinley

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Maryknoll

44

Lahainaluna

55

Final	1	2	3	4
Maryknoll (11-1, 20-3)	8	6	8	22	44
Lahainaluna (14-0, 20-2)	14	14	15	12	55

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

F. Hafoka 18 pts  1 3pm  1/2 FTs

R. Omori 13 pts  3 3pm  0/0 FTs

K. Koloi 21 tot  7 off  14 def

M. Martin 7 tot  3 off  4 def

K. Koloi 3 ast

R. Omori 3 ast

Lahainaluna's first three quarters were too much for Maryknoll to overcome in a 55-44 win Thursday night in the semifinals of the New City Nissan Division I state girls' basketball tournament at the Student Council Gymnasium at McKinley.

The second-seeded Lunas (14-0), second in the ScoringLive/OC 16 Power Rankings, will face top-seeded and No. 1 Konawaena (14-0) in the much-anticipated matchup since the Neighbor Island powers met Dec. 5 in preseason on the Big Island; the Wildcats won 61-52.. Tip off is 7 p.m. Friday at the Stan Sheriff Center at the University of Hawaii.

"It's amazing to be back where we were last year," Lahainaluna's Keleah-Aiko Hafota said. "It took a lot of hard work. This is the reason why we (play) year round is to get to where we are right now."

This is the first all-Neighbor Island title game since 2010 when the same teams met; the Lunas captured their only state title with a 47-45 win.

This will the second consecutive title appearance for the Lunas and third overall. Meanwhile, the Wildcats have been a regular in title games since coach Bobbie Awa took the helm in 2001. Her team will be making its ninth appearance (5-3) and will be looking for its first crown since 2012.

The Lunas used their decided height advantage in storming out in front of the Spartans. From the final three minutes of the first half through the first 3:35 of the second half, the Spartans went on a 20-0 run. The Lunas once had a 27-point lead with 3:29 left in the third period.

"We just had a drought offensively," Maryknoll coach Chico Furtado said. "That's the worst drought we had all year long. Nothing was going in and the kids were getting a little frustrated…Proud of the way our kids came back. I think the hole was a little too deep."

"Maryknoll, they're a team that's not going to quit," Lahainaluna coach Todd Rickard said. "Coach Chico (Furtado), he has his girls ready all the time."

The Spartans used an 11-0 run in the fourth to cut their deficit to 12. When the Lunas went into a slump at the free-throw line late in the game (2 for 7), the Spartans pulled to within 53-44 with 51 seconds left in the game. But Maryknoll could not capitalize when Lahainaluna missed the front-end of three consecutive bonus free throws when the Lunas got offensive rebounds in two of those situations.

Besides their ineffectiveness from the free-throw line, the Lunas were hampered by the loss of Cameron Fernandez, who fouled out within the first minute of the fourth quarter. That coincided with the Spartans' late charge.

"We built a decent lead," Rickard said. "Toward the end, we got a little bit complacent when the Fernandez girl went out. I had to put in some young girls and they're learning."

The Lunas pulled down 51 rebounds to the Spartans' 33.

"They hit us on the boards hard," Furtado said.

Fa-Ko-Fiemea Hafoka led a trio of Lunas' double-digit scorers with 18 points. The 6-foot-1 Koloi led with 21 rebounds and five blocked shots. Matafolau Hafoka had 11 points and 15 rebounds and Cameron Fernandez finished with 11 points.

"You have to have heart for the ball," Koloi said of her team's rebounding prowess. "If you don't want it, you won't get it."

"I told the girls, we need the rebounds," Rickard said. "We need the 50-50 balls. We need to play intense defense."

Rhianne Omori led the Spartans with 13 points, including three 3-pointers, while Maegen Martin had 11 with seven rebounds. Alexis Delovio, who scored 24 against the Lunas in last year's quarterfinal loss, was contained to one point. But it wasn't a good night for the Spartans all around. No one shot at least 50 percent.

The Spartans shot 24.6 percent from the field to the Lunas' 43.8 percent.

"All game long, it was like they had a lid on (our) basket," Furtado said. "Nothing was going down. It's one of those things. You have an offensive drought against a good team, we had to pay for that."

Meanwhile, Rickard had cause for concern about his team's 43.5 percent free-throw shooting, especially toward the end when the Spartans closed their deficit.

"We practice free throws every single day," lamented Rickard. "Sometimes the girls are like giggling and laughing, not taking it seriously. I said, 'One game, you're going to be in the situation.' Tonight, they were, so now I can go upstairs (to the locker room) and talk to them about taking it seriously."