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Defending state champion Lahainaluna got everything it could handle from a pesky Kapolei squad in a quarterfinal game of the Hawaiian Airlines/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I Girls' Basketball State Championships Wednesday, but in the end Maiki Viela and the Lunas escaped with a 58-55 win to stay alive.

A crowd of about 250 fans at Radford's Jim Alegre Gymnasium - many of them in Lahainaluna red - saw the Maui Interscholastic League champs rally from a six-point defecit with about two minutes to play to remain unbeaten at 13-0. The Hurricanes, who finished second in the Oahu Interscholastic Association, fell to 17-3.

"We didn't play well, but it was enough to win," said Viela, who finished with a game-high 29 points. "We played sloppy, had a lot of turnovers, we were flat. We came back and pulled it out, but we'll have to pick it up tomorrow."

The second-seeded Lunas advanced to the semifinal round for the third straight year and will play No. 3 seed and Interscholastic League of Honolulu titlist Punahou, 7 p.m. Thursday at Blaisdell Arena. The game will be available on ESPN 1500AM radio and will follow the 5 p.m. semifinal between top seed Konawaena and Iolani.

Wednesday night the Lunas held a 45-38 lead after three quarters, but went scoreless for over six minutes to start the fourth. Kapolei got a 13-0 run that included six free throws to seize a 51-45 lead with 2:08 to play. The Hurricanes were a perfect eight-for-eight at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.

"We didn't want to panic and I don't think we did, but we're still a young team and still making young mistakes and too many dumb fouls," said Viela who was 10-of-25 shooting from the field.

The senior guard led by example down the stretch. Her first of two made free-throws with 1:55 to play ended the Lunas' scoring draught and on their next possession, she hit a 3-pointer to cut it 53-50.

Jacobs extended the Kapolei lead with a pair of free throws at the 1:29 mark, but Lahainaluna closed out the game on a 8-0 run. Haley Nakamura's layup was followed by Ana-Marie Lauese's putback to cut the Hurricanes' lead to 55-54 with 1:17 left. After Kapolei turned the ball over on consecutive trips downcourt, Viela stole the ball and broke free for the go-ahead layup with 58 seconds to play. She added a pair of free throws with seconds seconds on the clock to give her team a three-point lead. The Hurricanes got off the would-be, game-tying 3, but it was no good and a desperation shot from behind the arc was blocked as time expired.

Kapolei coach Jesse Baugh gave credit to the Lunas' mostly man-to-man defense.
"They man-up, they're tough, they're quick, they're aggressive, they're smart, they jump in those passing lanes," Baugh said.

The smaller, quicker Lunas enjoyed success mostly in the first and third quarters, when they were able to get up and down the court quickly. Lahainaluna outscored Kapolei, 19 to 13, in the first quarter and 16 to 10, in the third. But, the Hurricanes' slower, half-court offense controlled the clock for much of the second and fourth quarters.

"We kept pushing the ball and pushing the ball, but everytime we built a seven- or eight-point lead, we ended up turning over the ball," Lunas' coach Todd Rickard said. "In the end, we had to really dig down deep and play our full-court pressure defense and luckily we came up with some steals and pulled it off."

After turning it over on its first three possessions, Kapolei took its first lead at 10-9 midway through the first quarter on a 3-pointer by Krystal Jacobs. Lahainaluna answered with a 10-3 run to close out the quarter ahead, 19-13.

The Lunas extended their lead to 23-13 before a 17-foot jumper by Jacobs ignited a 8-0 Hurricanes' run to cut it to 23-21. Viela hit a 3-pointer on Lahainaluna's next possession, but Kawehi Hagi came back with a baseline spin-and-scoop for Kapolei and Jacobs scored five points in the final one minute and 30 seconds of the first half to cut Lahaina's lead to 29-28 at the half.

Rickard said Kapolei's height - namely 6-foot center Toe Motu and 5-foot-10 forward Kaity Wills - was difficult to contend with.

"They are a lot bigger in person than they look on TV," said Rickard, who watched the Hurricanes' loss to Farrington in the OIA title game Thursday. "They're rebounding is solid. Their big girls can move, they can rebound, they can shoot, their guards can shoot and handle the ball well and they gave us everything we could handle. It was a good test for our girls."

Kapolei, who plays Kahuku in a consolation game Thursday, was led by Jacobs, who had 16 points, and Motu, who finished with 11. Lauese had 14 points, 11 rebounds and four assists for Lahainaluna.