Crumel Mooring and the Monarchs take on Colby Chun and the Jr. Bows Saturday afternoon for the final ILH berth into the D2 state tournament. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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University Lab's Otto Taylor puts up a shot in the lane against Hawaii Baptist Thursday night. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Damien's Dorien Penebacker blocks a shot attempt by Le Jardin's Nicholas Cheung. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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When Damien (8-3 ILH) and University Lab (7-4 ILH) meet for the third and final time this season, the league's last state tournament berth is up for grabs.

University Lab is seeking its first state tournament appearance since 2016, where it won it all, while Damien is trying to end a three-year drought.

Both the Jr. Bows and Monarchs had to rally from first half deficits to advance to Saturday's Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division II final at Damien with tipoff scheduled for 4 p.m.

Damien took control in the second quarter and never looked back, while University Lab crashed the boards to give themselves second-chance opportunities to pull away from HBA.

"It's going to be a hard-fought matchup," said Damien coach Alvin Stephenson. "I expect the score to be within three to four points as the last times."

The Monarchs lost back on Jan. 16, 42-40, but returned the favor by winning in the regular season finale, 56-53, on Feb. 1.

"We beat them once, they beat us. It's going to be a tough matchup. We hope we can play as well as we did tonight and be disciplined. If we are not disciplined, we won't have a shot. We hope we can take care of the ball and execute," said University Lab coach Ryan Tong, on heading into Saturday's game.

Saint Francis (10-0) was exempted from the tournament having already won the league title and a seeded state berth.

Damien's Dorien Penebacker blocks a shot attempt by Le Jardin's Nicholas Cheung.

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_18020900_DamienLeJardin_9882.jpg - Greg Yamamoto | SL

Damien 73, Le Jardin 52

The Monarchs had to claw themselves out of a dogfight after the first quarter and outscored the Bulldogs the rest of the way to defend their home court. 

"Everybody is fighting for their lives. It's anybody's ball game going into this game. I told them don't take this team lightly because they will come and play. It's tough to beat a team three times. They came out at us and gave them credit," said Stephenson, on Le Jardin.

Le Jardin led, 14-7, after the first quarter, but the hosts refused to be upset at home and outscored the visitors, 29-12, in the second quarter. The Monarchs took the lead on Sevilleja's 3-pointer, 18-17, and pushed it up to a 10-point lead going into halftime, 36-26.

"I was pleased our boys withstood everything that came their way," said Stephenson.

Damien's defense aided their second quarter scoring outburst after forcing 17 of the Bulldog's 31 turnovers in the first half. The Monarchs had 15 steals for the game. 

"It's our game," said Stephenson. "We run and gun since we're on the smaller end and we try to pressure."

Lindon Sevilleja and Kolin Galdiano went to work and combined for 23 of the Monarchs' 29 quarter points. Galdiano scored a team-high 23 points and shot 10 of 11 from the line, Sevilleja scored 16 points on four 3's and Crumel Mooring added 14, five assists and five steals.

Charles Abe kept the Bulldogs in the game with 26 points and shot 10 of 13 from the charity stripe. Nicholas Cheung added 11 points and made two 3's while Riley Brumel hustled for eight points and 10 boards.

Le Jardin managed to out-rebound Damien with a 32-29 advantage. The Bulldogs, who made it to the state tournament last season, finish the ILH season at 3-9.