The Castle Knights weren't fazed by the coastal mystique this time.

Waianae was on the verge of knocking Castle out of the Oahu Interscholastic Association postseason at Raymond Torii Field for the second straight year. But instead it was the Windward-side visitors who made the late plays to advance 23-16 and face unbeaten Kahuku in the semifinals at Aloha Stadium next week.

“;It feels really good,”; said Knights quarterback Jaymason Lee, who had three touchdown passes against three uncharacteristic interceptions. “;Everyone on this team deserves it. It's unbelievable right now.”;

Castle avenged its 25-13 loss at Waianae last year, a matchup between the teams on that field at the same time last year. It certainly wasn't as easy as it might have been after a 15-0 first-quarter lead.

Lee was spot-on with two first-quarter touchdown passes and the Knights recovered four Seariders turnovers, but Waianae junior defensive back Eldridge Kuiee had two of his team's three picks of Lee after halftime and the momentum steadily bled back to the hosts.

Waianae went up 16-15 on a fourth-quarter touchdown run by Eleu Wilson with 7:22 to play.

The Knights got the ball at the Waianae 49 with 1:03 left for a final chance to pull out the upset.

Lee hit star receiver Shaydon Kehano with consecutive passes of 16 and 33 yards—the latter a screen pass on which Kehano sprinted down the left sideline to score with 47 seconds left.

Castle survived three downfield shots by Waianae quarterback Puletua Wilson, and leveled him on a hard hit near the Knights' sideline when the QB went for a keeper first down.

Tensions ran high until Castle took a knee and the visitors left the field without shaking hands.

“;What a game,”; Castle coach Nelson Maeda said. “;We were lucky to win with the change in momentum. Fortunately for us we had a couple of plays at the end to open the game up.”;

Waianae was hit hard by suspensions from an on-campus brawl on Tuesday, losing six players, coach Daniel Matsumoto said before the game. Starting running back Keoni Napierala-Rose was among the key missing parts.

Napierala-Rose had seven rushing touchdowns and five receiving scores this season in Waianae's versatile offense, and was sorely missed.

But the Seariders slowly, inexorably, worked their way back into this one. After trailing 15-2 at the half, Waianae broke through with its ground game on scores by Henry Medeiros and Wilson to claim a 16-15 lead.

Last year, the Seariders picked off the Knights six times.

This time, the visitors were more effective in their spread offense, and the Seariders were just as susceptible to the pass as they were in losses to Saint Louis and Leilehua. In the first period, Lee hit Timothy Torres on a 13-yard strike after Castle forced a three and out on Waianae.

When the Seariders were careless with the ball, fumbling on their own 25, Lee immediately hit Kehano with a lob to the left pylon to go up by two scores.

The Knights had a chance to punch in another TD in the second quarter after two big Garrett Paredes runs. However, they were penalized at the Waianae 1, nullifying a Paredes score, and following another penalty Castle missed a 37-yard field-goal attempt.