The third time was, oddly enough, not quite the charm for the Punahou Buffanblu.

Kahuku, which played Punahou twice in December, pulled it off again with a heart-stopping 40-39 win last night at Jim Alegre Gymnasium in the Division I quarterfinals of the Hawaiian Airlines/HHSAA Boys Basketball State Championships.

Down one point, Punahou had the ball with 11 seconds left after Jray Galeai missed the front side of a 1-and-1. Kahuku, with two team fouls to give until the bonus, used them wisely. Dalton Hilliard drove through the middle, but was fouled by Galeai with 4.5 seconds left.

On the ensuing play, Nehoa Akina tipped away a pass by Punahou's Henry Cassiday to Robby Toma, leaving 1.9 seconds on the clock. Hilliard's inbounds pass from the sideline to the basket area was intercepted by Kahuku's Irwin Ah-Hoy, ending the game. That gave a massive Kahuku following at Alegre Gym plenty to cheer about.

Second-seeded Kahuku (23-2), champion of the Oahu Interscholastic Association, advanced to the semifinals and will play 'Iolani tonight at 7 in Blaisdell Arena.

Akina led Kahuku with 13 points and Jray Galeai tallied 10. The two guards combined for 18 second-half points against a rugged man-to-man defense. Before halftime, Kahuku shot 0-for-8 from 3-point range and had nine turnovers.

“;Coach (Hiram Akina) always wants us to keep shooting,”; said Nehoa, his son. “;First half, we were getting the nerves out of us. We kind of picked it up at the end of the second quarter and continued the momentum into the second half.”;

After five lead changes in the second half, Akina hit a 3-pointer to give Kahuku a 33-31 edge with 5:15 left. That play developed off a tough screen at midcourt by center Christian Feagai on Cassiday.

Moments later, Galeai banked in a 3-point shot from the right wing, and Kahuku led 36-31. A layup by center Kona Schwenke pushed the lead to 38-31, Kahuku's biggest of the game, with 2:46 remaining.

The Buffanblu got a trey from Toma and a putback by Kimo Makaula to get within 38-36 with 1:22 to go. Feagai made one of his two foul shots for a 39-36 lead with 1:09 left.

Punahou guard Taylor Crabb missed an open trey from the corner, and Hilliard was whistled for an offensive foul with 38 seconds left, negating another scoring opportunity.

Galeai hit the front side of a 1-and-1 with 36 ticks left for a 40-36 lead. After another miss by Crabb, Galeai missed on a 1-and-1 and Shane Yoshiyama swished a 3-pointer with a defender on him to cut the lead to 40-39 with 17 seconds to go.

Defending state champion Punahou (17-11), the third-place team from the Interscholastic League of Honolulu, threatened to spoil Kahuku's night but failed to take full advantage of key free-throw misses by the Red Raiders down the stretch.

Iolani 58, Waiakea 40

Pablo Warner scored nine first-half points as ILH runner-up 'Iolani (22-5) went on a 26-7 run and outlasted the resilient Warriors in a quarterfinal battle. Warner finished with 20 points on 9-for-15 shooting. Kainoa Chu added 14 points, and the Raiders forced Waiakea into 21 turnovers. They collected 16 steals, including four by Chu.