Kaimuki, Kalani square
off in D-II title game

By her own admission, Flora Mesa isn't much of a 3-point shooter.

But with 4:13 left in the game and her team trailing by nine, the Kaimuki senior chucked up a trey that would spark the Bulldogs to a 44-39 comeback win over Castle in the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division II semifinals at Kalani yesterday.

Kaimuki (14-3) advances to face Kalani in the championship tonight at McKinley. The Falcons beat Aiea 58-40 in the second semifinal.

"We really wanted to win this one. I'm really happy to get this far," said Mesa, who finished with nine points. "It's my senior year. We haven't gotten this far (before)."

Mesa's basket started a 9-0 run that Ashley Moi capped with a 3-point play. Moi banked in a free throw to even the score at 37 with 3:28 to play. Keri Nakahashi converted both ends of a one-and-one to give Kaimuki a 39-37 lead, the Bulldogs' first since the start of the third quarter.

The Bulldogs' tough man-to-man defense forced several critical turnovers in the final minutes and came up with two huge stops that prevented the Knights from attempting a shot.

"We came out kind of sloppy," Kaimuki coach Mona Fa'asoa said. "We always have a slow second half. Every game.

"We came out really flat. We had to change our defense and put a little more pressure on the ball to get turnovers."

The Bulldogs switched from a zone defense and successfully used a fullcourt press and a trap defense.

Castle led 37-28, but was scoreless until Titi Kawainui ended the drought to knot the score at 39. But Kaimuki sophomore Mindy Hirokawa scored the go-ahead basket to put the Bulldogs up for good.

Hirokawa scored 11 of her team-high 12 points in the second half. Moi chipped in 10 points and twin sister Paige Moi added eight points and 10 rebounds.

"Mindy stepped up big time," Mesa said. "She's the youngest on our team. I have all the confidence in her and made her understand that we needed her to step up, and she did."

Hirokawa was the difference-maker as the Knights collapsed on Moi in the third quarter and prevented the Bulldogs from feeding her. Castle went on a 9-1 run in the period and held Kaimuki to just five points.

"We played a good three quarters," Knights coach Jeff McKeown said. "To me the fourth quarter came down to making your layups and shooting free throws and we didn't do either. We missed five good underneath (the basket) looks. Down the stretch, we didn't really convert on our free throws.

"They put on a fullcourt press and it caught us off guard. They got a couple easy baskets off that and that got them within range. When they make a run, we need to be able to step up and stop the run. We didn't stop the run. We had opportunities to, but we just didn't do it."

The Knights got double-digit scoring performances from Kellsie Sasaki (10) and Kawainui (11).

At Kalani H.S. gym

Castle (12-5)	12	4	14	9	--	39
Kaimuki (14-3)	11	7	5	21	--	44

CASTLE--Karissa Kinney 0, Candyce Ames 4, Niki Kobashigawa 0, Kellsie Sasaki 10, Sarah Phromisiri 2, Raquel Hoe-Pedro 0, Uilani Kekauoha 2, Audrey Ako 2, Tracie Kam 1, Ette Amerperosa 1, Leighla Kalehiki 0, Shanyn Fafard-Kaaihue 6, Titi Kawainui 11, Sao Lefotu 0, Kawena Kawainui 0.
KAIMUKI--Flora Mesa 9, Mindy Hirokawa 12, Keri Kaneshiro 0, Nicole Sasaki 0, Kanoe Nicola 0, Chelsea Gornichec 0, Rachelle Butler 0, Paige Moi 6, Ashley Moi 12, Chasity Laulusa 1, Keri Nakahashi 4, Ayesha Shepard 0.
3-point goals -- Castle 3 (Sasaki 2, T. Kawainui), Kaimuki 3 (Hirokawa 2, Mesa).

Kalani 58, Aiea 40

The Falcons came out firing, hitting three consecutive 3s and going 4-for-5 from the field in the run to open the game with an 11-0 lead.

After Aiea missed its first nine shots, Kalei Castillo got Na Alii on the board when she launched a long 3.

Aiea cut the deficit to one (15-14) with Shannon Nahoopii's putback at the buzzer, but that was the closest Na Alii got.

Kalani took control of the game in the second quarter.

The Falcons went on a 14-2 run to take a 35-21 lead into the intermission.

"It's a great bunch of kids," Kalani coach Darold Imanaka said. "We're excited. We wanted to make it to states.

"We jumped on it right away. I have a lot of faith in my reserves. We don't panic. We can shoot the lights out of the ball."

Nicole Isemoto led the Falcons with 15 points, including three 3-pointers. Zori Drew led Na Alii with 10 points. At Kalani H.S. gym

Aiea (10-7)	14	7	9	10	--	40
Kalani (15-2)	15	20	13	10	--	58

AIEA--Shareyn Muneoka 7, Jennifer Yuen 0, Jessica Tan 0, Chelsea Puma 0, Shannon Nahoopii 6, Michelle Shiroma 0, Zori Drew 10, Nohelani Fonoti 0, Kalei Castillo 9, Amanda Jungblut 0, Capri Holiona 8, Annie Orial 0.
KALANI--Chloe Martin 4, Brandi Yamauchi 1, Megan Kamehiro 4, Kim Cabuyadao 7, Mana Camara 11, Yasmina Taketa 2, Chelsea Kimura 3, Nicole Isemoto 15, Kacie Gushiken 9, Liandra Bonifacio 0, Kerri Chikamori 0, Chaude Bonifacio 0, Alisha Bonifacio 2.
3-point goals -- Aiea 2 (Castillo 2), Kalani 4 (Isemoto 2, Camara, Cabuyadao).