Lahainaluna's Lisa Hafoka scored 17 points to lead the Lunas into the Division I semifinals. Crizalmer Caraang Jr. | SL

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Thu, Feb 2, 2017 @ Moanalua

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Mililani

46

Lahainaluna

54

Final	1	2	3	4
Mililani (10-3, 18-8)	9	7	17	13	46
Lahainaluna (14-0, 20-4)	29	10	5	10	54

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

L. Hafoka 17 pts  1 3pm  4/6 FTs

K. Gibson 14 pts  8/9 FTs

S. Namoa 5 tot  2 off  3 def

H. Carter 6 tot  2 off  4 def

B. Estabillo 2 ast

H. Carter 2 ast

SALT LAKE — It was a tale of two halves, but Lahainaluna found a way to pull through.

The third-seeded Lunas started off hot, but overcame a huge Mililani rally to win, 54-46 in the quarterfinals of the Snapple/HHSAA Division I Girls Basketball State Championships at Moanalua High School.

In a rematch of last year's quarterfinals, where the Lunas won, 77-38, it started to look history would repeat itself until Mililani woke up in the second half.

"Anytime you're in the state tournament, every team is good and competitive and anything can happen on a given night. I compliment coach Pat Basilio and his players because they almost stole a victory from us," said Lahainaluna coach Todd Rickard.

Tonight was a little too close for comfort, but the Lunas (20-2 overall) advance to the semifinals to face the second-seeded Maryknoll (27-2 overall) at Neal S. Blaisdell Center at 5 p.m. The Trojans (17-7 overall) play Kaimuki (16-10 overall) at 3 pm.

"They (Mililani) wanted it just as bad as we did," said Hafoka.

Lisa Hafoka led the Lunas with 17 points and Susi Namoa added 15 before both fouled out in the fourth.

The Trojans' momentum from the third carried over to the fourth quarter as they cut it down to seven, 46-39 after consecutive baskets by Kayla Torres with 5:28 remaining. To the credit of Mililani's defense, the Lunas committed 17 total turnovers.

"Mililani executed in the second half and got easy baskets. They played terrific defense and forced us into turnovers and made it a close game," said Rickard.

Lahainaluna battled through foul trouble as the team had four players with four fouls and the Trojans reached the double bonus at 4:41 in the fourth quarter. The Lunas committed 25 total fouls for the game. Hafoka fouled out with 4:40 remaining while Namoa fouled out with 1:55 left.

"We saw that going into the half, three of their girls had foul trouble. They are so aggressive so I told my girls to keep at it, if we can get a couple of them out and bring the bench in, we'll see what our traps could do against their subs," said Mililani coach Pat Basilio.

"It was pretty scary and we had to hang in there and play as a team. We couldn't let the score get to us and we had to continue to play," said Hafoka. "We had to play careful so it affected the game."

Dahlis Sablay's free throws and Kalena Gibson's steal and layup brought it to five, 50-45. Gibson led the Trojans with 14 points and six rebounds. Sablay hurt her ankle landing awkwardly and left the game at the 2:19 mark. Taysia Canon hit 1-of-2 free throws with 1:55 remaining, but the Trojans could get no closer.

"The hole was so deep, but they tried," said Basilio.

"I think definitely it made a difference," said Rickard, on the foul trouble. "It wasn't like we could play aggressive and send them to the free throw line."

The Lunas opened up the quarter with a 9-1 run and back-to-back 3-pointers by Keiko Aotaki and Hafoka made it, 15-3 and Mililani called timeout. The Trojans rallied briefly in the last 3 minutes of the quarter with a 6-0 run—four points coming from the free throw line. Hafoka led the first quarter charge to score 10 points. 

"It's tough to practice against speed like that everyday. When you get on the court, you have to adjust it on your own," said Basilio.

The Lunas hit four 3's and forced 24 overall turnovers. Lahainaluna pushed the lead to 20 points twice and led 39-16 at halftime.

"This is a small team and they like to run and push the ball," said Rickard.

"It opened lanes up and we were able to drive in," said Hafoka.

Mililani opened the third quarter on a 12-1 run to bring the score within 14, 44-30. Hafoka picked up her fourth foul with 2:16 remaining. The Trojans trailed by 23 points at halftime, but scored 30 second half points. Gibson converted the 3-point play with 28.5 seconds left after a lob from Hope Carter as Mililani trailed, 44-33 to head into the fourth. The Trojans outscored the Lunas, 17 to 5 in the quarter.

"They showed a lot of resiliency, fight and pride. They didn't give up. I'm fortunate we played a decent first half because the second half, we had a scare," said Rickard, commending Mililani's valiant effort.