Kaiser's Nic Tom takes the ball to the basket against Kohala. Tyler Guieb | SL

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KALIHI — Oahu Interscholastic Association Division II champion Kaiser held off a furious Kohala rally to advance to its first state championship game in school history Friday night.

A crowd of about 800 were on hand to witness the Cougars outlast Kohala, 50-47 in the semifinal round of the New City Nissan/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division II Boys Basketball Championships at Farrington's Richard Kitamura Gymnasium. Kaiser will face OIA runner-up Kalani for the Division II state title tomorrow at the Stan Sheriff Center.

"We've been working hard for this since day one in the offseason and it's finally starting to pay off," said Kaiser's Keoua Mahiko. The 6-foot-2 junior guard scored a game-high 17 points to lead the Cougars' offensive effort.

Kohala, the Big Island Interscholastic Federation Division II runner-up, climbed back from a 11-point fourth quarter deficit and got within two points with 17 seconds left in regulation. Kohala had a chance to send the game into overtime on Kealen Figueroa's 3-point attempt from the right wing, but it bounced off the left side of the rim as time expired.

"I'm just so overwhelmed with emotion right now," said Kaiser coach Branden Kawazoe, whose team is ranked ninth in the ScoringLive/OC16 Boys Basketball Power Rankings.  "Hats off to Kohala. Big Island is where I'm from and they got a place in my heart. It was such a great battle."

With Kaiser's 6-foot-5 forward Chance Kalaugher in foul trouble (16 minutes played), junior Isaiah Lundell filled the void. The 6-foot-2 forward finished with 12 points, which tied a season-high, and had eight rebounds and three assists.

"He doesn't really score that much but today he stepped it up with Chance having a rough game," Mahiko said on Lundell. "He scored buckets when we needed them and he kept us in the game in the beginning."

"Well we needed to stop that big guy so we tried to make somebody else beat us and I guess that guy was the hero for them," added Kohala coach Don Fernandez.

Kohala had the advantage out of the gate, scoring on its first five field goal attempts to take an early 12-4 lead. Lundell's efforts helped Kaiser whittle down the Cowboys' lead down to four, 16-12, after the first quarter.

The second quarter was a much different story. Kohala was 0-for-8 from the field and only netted three points on free throws in the period. The Cougars took advantage of this and went on a 10-0 run in the final 7:18 of the first half to take a 23-19 lead heading into the break.

"We knew that they were going to come out hot," said Kawazoe. "That is a great shooting team, a team that executes well and we just had to withstand the run. For us it's all about staying solid and just dealing with it — and know that at some point our defense will get stops and know that we're going to come down on the other end and get buckets. That's who we are and that's what we've been doing all year and I'm just super proud of my guys."

Kohala continued its cold streak into the third quarter and would go without a basket until Figueora's floater with 2:14 left in the period. 

"A little youth mentality in the game kind of hurt us," Fernandez said, reflecting on his team's offensive woes. "We kind of needed to stay a little patient in our offense, but the anxiety of the game got to us."

Kaiser led 33-28 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Cougars took its largest lead of the game, 41-30, on Mahiko's jumper with under six minutes left in regulation. However, Kohala was able to go on a 7-0 run to make it a four-point game thanks to a couple of putbacks from Mikala Jordan.

Kaiser was able to push its lead back up to eight, 49-41 on a Kesley Lewis II fast break bucket off a turnover, before Figueroa nearly willed the Cowboys to victory. The 5-foot-7 senior guard nailed a quick triple, and later stole the ball to draw an intentional foul. Figueroa made the two free throws to make it a three-point game, 49-46 with 25.3 left on the clock.

On the ensuing possession Figueroa drove into the lane and drew a foul on Kalaugher with 17 seconds left to play. Figueroa made the first free throw, but missed the second and a putback attempt off the missed free throw. Kohala was forced to foul, sending Kalaugher to the line for two attempts.

Kalaugher missed both of the free throws, but a key offensive rebound by Nicolas Tom retained possession for Kaiser, which ultimately led to Lewis going to the line with 8.3 second left on the clock. Lewis made his second free throw attempt and the Cougars were able to hold on for the win.

"Our backs have been up against the wall all year," said Kawazoe. "The OIA East is as tough as a league as it gets. Just being able to deal with the pressure and just find ways to win. Nic Tom's rebound off the missed free throw with 8 seconds left was huge. Fortunately for us we were able to get lucky bounces and sometimes to win you need those."

Figueroa finished with 16 points, six rebounds, five steals and three assists to lead the Cowboys. 

Kohala saw three players foul out of the game: Jordan, Justin Agbayani and Hana Carvalho. Those three players combined for 26 point and 18 rebounds.

Tip-off between Kalani and the Cougars is slated for 5 p.m. Kaiser loss to the Falcons, 78-77 to begin the regular season, but avenged its defeat with a 49-36 win for the league crown.