Farrington hangs on to defeat Moanalua, 58-53

Farrington's Viane Vaina soars for a rebound over two Moanalua players. Peter Caldwell | Special to SL

Mikey Kleman scored a game-high 13 points -- including seven in the pivotal final three minutes -- and Viane Vaina and Jefrey Madarang each added 12 points last night as Farrington held off Moanalua, 58-53, in the James Alegre Invitational boys basketball semifinals.

The defending Division II state champion Governors will face reigning DI champ Kamehameha for the tournament title at 7:30 tonight at Radford's Alegre Gymnasium.

Radford will play Pearl City at 3 p.m. for seventh place, followed by Baldwin vs. Leilehua at 4:30 for fifth place and Mid-Pacific vs. Moanalua for third place at 6.

Last night's semifinal pitting two-time defending O'ahu Interscholastic Association Red Conference (DI) champion Moanalua against reigning OIA White Conference champ Farrington was tight throughout until the Governors ended the game with a 9-3 run in the final three minutes.

The Govs had taken a 45-40 lead about two minutes into the fourth period after two free throws by Chadey Callazo, but Na Menehune later tied it at 49-49 on Chris Hammond's 3-pointer with 3:20 remaining and took a 50-49 lead after Daib Starks sank one of two free throws 12 seconds later.

Kleman then scored on a reverse layup at the 3-minute mark to grab the lead back for Farrington, and he followed that with a fast-break dunk and another layup to push the Govs ahead, 55-50, with 1:39 left. Kleman added a free throw one minute later to push the lead to 56-50, before Starks' 3-pointer cut the lead in half with 24 ticks remaining.

Madarang and Callazo then each made a free throw in the final 15 seconds to seal the victory.

Starks led Moanalua with 10 points, including seven in the final quarter.

Kamehameha 70, Mid-Pacific 23

Dyrbe Enos and JT Campbell each scored a game-high 15 points and Noah Borden added 10 points as the Warriors blitzed past the Owls.

MPI raced out to a 5-0 lead after Jordan Matsumoto's 3-pointer and a baseline jumper by Ryan Swanson and led 7-2 after two free throws by Marcus Doi, but Enos drained a 3-pointer to start Kamehameha on an 18-0 run that made it 20-7 with 3:08 still remaining in the first period.

Brian Chung's three-point play cut the lead to 20-10 a half-minute later, but Enos ended the quarter with another 3-pointer and a layup to make it 25-10 hading into the second.

A 16-2 run later pushed the lead to 43-14 midway through the period and the Warriors led 46-17 at halftime.