Kalaheo's Alec Macleod and Kekai Smith contest a shot attempt by Iolani's Eric Yamada. Evan Asato | SL

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MANOA— It was an interesting journey for the Kalaheo Mustangs as they finish on top after dismantling Iolani, 53-46 to win their sixth overall Division I championship on Saturday night at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The Mustangs held the Raiders to 14-of-45 (31.1 percent) shooting for the game—their lowest output in the state tournament and forced nine turnovers.

"They made some tough shots tonight," said Kupaa Harrison. "They had some guys that hit big 3's and got some momentum. I thought we did a really good job of showing on their penetration and getting out on shooters. We contested it and that's how we played the game."

The Mustangs rolled through the OIA regular season going 12-0 and sat on top the ScoringLive/OC16 Power Rankings for most of the season. However, the loss to Farrington in overtime, 60-58 in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Red Playoff semifinals on Feb. 17 was a "wake up" call for the team and added fuel to the fire.

"It was a blessing in disguise. The guys went back to work and focused on the defensive end and it's one of those things that the kids wanted it more. At the end of the day, four games in four nights against the best teams in the state, it's very gratifying," said Kalaheo coach Alika Smith.

"We developed this attitude by winning all our regular season games and we thought that no one could beat us and we were the hottest thing around," said Harrison. "That Farrington loss—we didn't want to lose, but we had a chance in the end. Even if we didn't lose, it would've been a humbling experience and it showed us that nothing will be given us just by walking through the door. We have to step up on the court and work hard the whole time."

"It was a wake up call. Coach drilled us and said we can't be playing like that if we want to win the state tournament," said Kaleb Gilmore, who scored a game-high 30 points. "It humbled us and we thought it would be easy since we beat them before."

From there Kalaheo went back to work and tightened up their defense. As a result, the Mustangs rode its team defense to win their sixth overall championship and that's what they prided themselves on.

"We weren't focused on the defensive end and that's why we went to the drawing board and went to work for the next couple days," said Smith. "We knew if we buckled down on defense then we would have a shot and we did that throughout this whole tournament."

"After that loss to Farrington we had a few good practices and getting back to playing defense first. If we play defense with the guys we have, nobody can beat us," said Harrison.

The Mustangs rolled through Maui and had 24 steals off of 39 Saber turnovers in the opening round game. The held Punahou, who is usually lethal from beyond the arc, to 17-of-44 shooting from the field, 5 of 20 (25 percent) from the 3-point line. Against Kahuku in the semifinals, they forced 20 turnovers for the game and swarmed to the ball.

They had several leads throughout the state tournament and when their opponents threaten to cut the deficit, the Mustangs were poised and found ways to execute down the stretch. The Raiders hit three consecutive 3-pointers to cut the deficit to four, 31-27 in the third quarter.

"They are a great team and we figured they would come back in a certain point in time. We had to stay together as a team and push forward," said Gilmore, on Iolani's run.

"Tonight they shot well, 3's went in left and right. But our kids kept their composure and they could've cracked and they didn't. Kaleb sealed it from the free throw line," said Smith.

The Mustangs had to deal with adversity later in the game as Gilmore and Harrison picked up their fourth fouls and Alec MacLeod fouled out with 2:01 remaining in the fourth quarter.

"At first we weren't in foul trouble and then all of a sudden we got a lot of fouls and it fed to their lead. Coach called a timeout and told us to play solid ‘D' and put your hands up," said Harrison.

"There were so many ups and downs and bumps in the road, but in the end all the stuff we went through was all worth it for this," added Harrison.

Gilmore, who came up short the past two seasons in the state tournament, appreciated winning it all his senior year.

"It feels great, being close two times in a row, especially my sophomore year and having the feeling of having to win it, it feels terrific," said Gilmore.