Kapaa ran with run-and-gun Word of Life for 27 minutes.

When it got to crunch time, however, the Warriors valued possessions and buckled down defensively for a 66-58 victory in the opening round of the Hawaiian Airlines/HHSAA Boys Basketball Division II State Championships last night at Farrington.

Neither team earned separation of more than six points until Kapaa went on an 11-1 run in the fourth quarter to turn a 52-all game into a double-digit lead.

The Warriors (7-3) advanced to face top-seeded Castle (15-2) today at 7 p.m. at Farrington.

Kekoa Prem led the way for the Kauai Interscholastic Federation champions with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Warriors coach Phillip Baclayon estimated it had been 10 years since Kapaa had made it to state play on any level, and his players turned that into extra incentive to move on.

“;It's a good win,”; said Prem, a 5-foot-10 senior guard. “;We waited 10 years to come back to states. It was hard (swapping the leads), but when we build our momentum, we're a good team. (In the final minutes) our boys got more confident.”;

Word of Life (9-6), the Interscholastic League of Honolulu's third-place team, feasted on the 3-point shot in the first half (hitting 6-for-10 from beyond the arc) but the going got tougher when the deep ball dried up after halftime (2-for-11 after intermission).

The Firebrands got into the bonus with about 7 minutes to play, but weren't able to capitalize by getting to the free-throw line. Center Brad Foster led Word of Life with 23 points and 11 rebounds.

“;We just played undisciplined down the stretch, where with 7 minutes left I told them, just take the ball to the basket, they're going to foul,”; Firebrands coach Murphy Kealoha said. “;We just started to take bad shots, making bad decisions.”;

“;They're a hell of a team,”; Kealoha added. “;They run up and down just like we do. I take my hat off to them, Coach Phillip and their whole program.”;

Pahoa 48, University 45

Jonathan Viernes hit an amazing and improbable 3-pointer from the right corner with 2 seconds left to lift the Daggers (10-4) past the Jr. 'Bows (12-3) and into the HHSAA quarterfinals for the first time in school history.

Pahoa, the Big Island Interscholastic Federation runner-up, plays fourth-seeded Molokai today at 5 p.m. at Farrington.

Viernes (33 points, 13 rebounds) and UHS senior Dylan Gomez (28 points, five assists, six steals) put their respective teams on their backs all night. After Gomez hit his second NBA-range trey of the final 2 minutes to tie the game at 45 with about 15 seconds left, Pahoa coach John Ganir drew up a play for Viernes coming out of a timeout.

The 6-foot senior swingman didn't disappoint. After a bungled handoff, he recovered the ball deep in the corner and twisted to fire at the basket. His shot hit all net, and UHS couldn't respond before the buzzer.

“;It looked good when I released it,”; Viernes said. “;I practice that all the time at practice. Pretty amazing to be winning the game (on it).”;