Kailua's big men finally wore down Academy of the Pacific's big three to give the Surfriders a shot at defending their Division II state title.

Burly Kailua center Jordan DeCorte led four teammates in double figures, and the Surfriders held off a scrappy AOP team 54-51 in last night's semifinal game of the Hawaiian Airlines/HHSAA Boys Basketball Division II State Championship at Kalani's Earl C. Holmer Gymnasium.

Surfriders point guard Corey Lau, the lone starter returning from last year's championship team, sliced through the Dolphins defense to finish with 11 points, and the Surfriders will look to repeat in their farewell to Division II.

The Surfriders will face Pahoa in the title game at 5 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.

“;This a brand new team,”; Kailua head coach Tim Harrison said. “;We have one guy who played. The rest of them were on the bench watching and now they get to play in it and see what they can do.

“;We didn't expect it this year. We're young and it's good for us that we're able to get this experience before we go into the (Oahu Interscholastic Association) Red.”;

With DeCorte in foul trouble for much of the second half, junior forward Ethan Mahaulu stepped up to score eight of his 10 points after the break.

Still, the Surfriders had to sweat out a tight battle with the Dolphins—led by juniors Micah Dunhour and Simon Koch and sophomore David Daniels—until a 3-pointer at the buzzer bounced off the rim.

The trio accounted for all of the Dolphins' scoring and took all but three of their shots.

The 6-foot-4 Dunhour shot over the Kailua guards to hit five 3-pointers—four in the first half—on his way to 19 points, while Koch did most of his damage at the free-throw line to score a game-high 21. Daniels added 11.

But Harrison credited the play of Kailua junior Luis Valenzuela for hounding Dunhour into a 3-for-10 shooting performance in the second half.

“;The key to this game was us going fullcourt man and Luis Valenzuela locking him down in the second half,”; Harrison said.

“;I'm a little taller (6-3) and tried to get in his face,”; Valenzuela said. “;I knew my teammates had my back on the drive, so I just got up in his face and tried to contest on them.”;

AOP, which doesn't substitute unless dictated by foul trouble or injury, controlled the pace early, slowing the tempo in the first half, and took a 20-15 lead into the break.

“;We decided at halftime we had to go win this game with man-to-man,”; Harrison said. “;They were going to hold the ball, so we had to push the issue and our guys really hung in there.”;

The teams went into the final 6 minutes tied 39-39 and Kailua took control with an 8-1 run, with Lau twice penetrating and finding Mahaulu under the basket for easy layups.

“;I started driving and creating and our big men really came up strong tonight,”; Lau said. “;We wanted to go inside to get them in foul trouble.”;

But the Surfriders couldn't quite put the Dolphins away down the stretch, as Lau missed four free throws in the final 22 seconds, giving AOP hope to the very end.

“;It was their ability to wear us down inside and get enough easy baskets,”; said AOP coach Chic Hess, who taught several of the Surfriders at Kailua Intermediate.

“;They're a good team. ... They're nice kids. If I had to lose I'm glad I'm losing to a fine group of kids.”;