Maryknoll's Joshua Burnett (25) goes for a dunk after a break-away steal against Konawaena. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Maryknoll's Tobias Schramm (50) puts up a shot as Konawaena defends. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Konawaena's Nick Mims (24) makes a shot attempt over Maryknoll's Tobias Schramm (50). Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Maryknoll's Danny Danbara puts up a layup attempt over Konawaena's Jonah Bredeson. Sean Nakamura | SL

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Maryknoll's Joshua Burnett (25) goes for a dunk after a break-away steal against Konawaena. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Fri, Feb 22, 2013 @ Blaisdell

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Konawaena

32

Maryknoll

45

Final	1	2	3	4
Konawaena	7	6	11	8	32
Maryknoll (11-1, 25-3)	11	11	9	14	45

• Points
• Rebounds
• Assists

J. Burnett 14 pts  4/7 FTs

N. Mims 10 pts  2/4 FTs

H. Harris 16 tot

J. Bredeson 6 tot

H. Harris 2 ast

J. Bredeson 2 ast

Kelly Grant has his team one win away from its goal.

Maryknoll overcame cold shooting with tough inside play and solid free-throw shooting to beat Konawaena, 45-32, in a semifinal of the Hawaiian Airlines/Hawaii High School Athletic Association Division I Boys Basketball State Championships Friday night.

A crowd of about 1,500 at Neal S. Blaisdell Arena saw the top-seeded Spartans lead throughout to improve to 13-1 on the season. Maryknoll, the Interscholastic League of Honolulu titlist, will try for its first state title since 1984. It will be returning the state final for the first time since 1988.

"I'm happy for Spartan Nation," said Maryknoll coach Kelly Grant, whose team will play Oahu Interscholastic Association champion Kalaheo in the 7 p.m. championship Saturday. "We took a big step tonight and I'm happy that we're in the championship game and it's also nice that we have No. 1 and No. 2 in the final."

The title game will be televised live statewide on OC16 and will follow the Division II final between Saint Francis and Kailua at 5 p.m.

Joshua Burnett led all scorers with 14 points - including a pair of thunderous breakaway slam dunks - on 5-of-11 shooting from the field and had five rebounds with two steals. Maryknoll's bigs did their part with Tobias Schramm's double-double and Hyrum Harris' strong rebounding effort.

"At first we were worried about their big (6-foot-8 Brenton Shropshire), but then after a while we just figured out how to use each other - me and Tobi - because we're the biggest (front court) in all of Hawaii, so we just figured out what to do and how to use our bodies," said Harris, who pulled down 10 of his 16 rebounds in the first half - including nine in the first quarter. "I'm pretty proud of it. I wish I could have scored a bit more though, but rebounds are good."

Schramm scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds

"I thought we did excellent, especially our big guys, they were battling and (Kona is) actually a really good shooting team, so we were lucky that they weren't hitting shots," Danbara said.

Neither team shot particularly well from the field. The Spartans shot 26.8 percent (11 of 41), including 0 of 10 on 3-pointers, while the Wildcats shot at a 25.0 clip (12 of 48) and were 2 of 13 from beyond the arc. However, Maryknoll shot 32 free throws and made 23 of them, while Konawaena was just 6 of 12 from the line.

"We just couldn't hit shots," Wildcats' coach Donald Awa said. "We couldn't hit shots and I'm willing to bet they shot a few more free throws than we did and that's hard to swallow sometimes. Usually if there's a discrepancy like that in the first half, the crew might try to give you back a few in the second half, try to even it out. They're big and that probably affected our shots a little bit."

Danbara, who made 9 of 10 free throws, including 7 of 8 in the fourth quarter, said practice makes perfect for the Spartans.

"We shoot at least 20 to 25 free throws everyday at practice and everytime before I go to the line, I stick through my same routine: take a deep breath, and I just feel comfortable and after I make the first couple, then it gets it going and the pressure wears off," Danbara said.

Awa lamented about the free-throw disparity, but credited the Spartans' defensive effort at the same time.

"I think their size had something to do with that, because we didn't see that kind of size before," Awa said. "That might have affected us a little bit, but I thought we could have gotten a few more calls. I don't have a problem with what they called, I just felt there was a few that we didn't get and if we could have gotten those, it would have made it a little more balanced - maybe not even, but a little more balanced."

Maryknoll took an early 4-0 lead and held an 11-7 advantage after the first quarter. The Spartans closed out the second quarter on a 5-0 run, including back-to-back baskets by Burnett, to take a 22-13 lead at halftime.

An 8-2 run to open the third quarter gave Maryknoll it's largest lead of the game at 30-15 with three minutes and 29 seconds left, but Konawaena stormed back with a 9-1 run to pull within 31-24 to start the fourth quarter.

However, the Spartans answered with a 5-0 run to stretch their lead back to 12 and never led by less than nine points the rest of the way.

"We just had to stick together as a team and use each other, don't be selfish and share the ball with each other," Harris said. "There was no concern, we know we're a team and we can play as a team. We share the ball and we're good."

Nick Mims led the Wildcats in scoring with 10 points, including eight after halftime.

Maryknoll, which has now won seven straight games, made 10 of 13 fourth-quarter free throws and outrebounded Konawaena, 35-23, for the game.

Saturday's final will be the first meeting between the teams this season. Kalaheo, which has not lost since Dec. 28, beat Punahou in overtime, 55-48, in the other semifinal.

"This is what we've been preparing for from the beginning of the season," Danbara said. "We've come this far and I think we're all going to be ready by tomorrow to take the whole thing."

Konawaena, which is making its fifth state-tournament appearance and first since 2008, will play the Buffanblu in the third-place game at 3 p.m.