Top-ranked Maryknoll can wrap up the ILH's regular-season title and punch its ticket to its fourth straight Division I state tournament with a win over third-ranked Kamehameha. Sylvia Lee | SL

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Win and you're in.

That's the clear-cut situation that the top-ranked Maryknoll girls' basketball team finds itself in.

The Spartans (9-0) can punch their tickets for a return trip to the Division I state tournament with a win Saturday. Standing in their way is arguably the hottest team in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu in third-ranked Kamehameha.

The second-place Warriors (5-3) rebounded from a 1-3 start in league play by winning their last four games — all by double digits.

"We are playing better, there is no doubt there," Kamehameha coach Joe Cho said. "I think our defense has picked up and I really think our execution on offense has been better and we're just making shots now."

In their first game of the new year, the Warriors rallied from a double-digit first-half deficit to a 10-point win over Iolani. They overcame a six-point first quarter to score a season-high 70 points in the win.

"We found ourselves down in the second quarter, but the rest of the way we outplayed them," Cho said. "I think Iolani's defense might have been tired from coming back from the mainland the week before, because I think that hurt them a little bit, but I think overall that gives us some momentum. We believed that if we played well, that we could beat them and it showed that if we play consistently for most of the game, we have a chance to win."

Four Kamehameha players scored in double figures in that win. Kalina Obrey led the way with 17 points, Jewel Paaluhi-Caulk added 16, Kiana Vierra 14 and Mikiala Maio 10.

The same four average double digit points per game in ILH play (Obrey 12.9 ppg, Maio 11.6, Paaluhi-Caulk 11.1, Vierra 10.5) for the Warriors, whose latest notch in the win column came in the form of Thursday night's 48-38 win at Sacred Hearts.

It's a lineup Maryknoll coach Chico Furtado knows all about.

"They're more of a traditional team in the sense that they have a solid point guard, shooting guard, a slasher in Maio and then Obrey in the post, whereas with Iolani you have to chase their guards all over the floor," said Furtado, whose team is coming off a 47-34 win over the fourth-ranked Raiders Thursday night. "They're playing well — and I'm glad for them — because earlier in the season they were going through some struggles."

By comparison, it's been smooth sailing for Furtado's team — at least from the outside perspective.

"We've been fortunate that we've been able to kind of keep things moving even though lulls in certain games and that's a credit to our kids; They've battled back," Furtado said.

Like the Warriors, balance and depth have also key for the Spartans.

Wing Kamalu Kamakawiwoole (11.1 ppg) and guard Rhianne Omori (10.0) lead the way in the scoring department, but center Isabella Cravens (8.6) isn't far behind.

"We're still trying to play with more consistency. Sometimes we look like gangbusters where we're moving the ball and everything is crisp and there there's other times that we're in lulls," Furtado said. "If we can play good defense consistently, then I think we're a very good basketball team. If we don't, then we hit these kinds of valleys that can come back to bite us."

One of those valleys played out the last time Maryknoll played Kamehameha, on Dec. 16.

The Spartans held a seemingly insurmountable 48-31 lead at the end of the third quarter, but nearly squandered it. They shot just 2 of 10 from the free-throw line in the final eight minutes — and 8 of 24 for the game — and just barely staved off a furious rally by the visiting Warriors to escape with a narrow 52-51 win.

"Against Kamehameha last time we were up 17 and everything was fine and we lose focus and hit a deep valley and we almost weren't able to dig ourselves out of it," Furtado said. "We're just fortunate that the game ended before we totally imploded. That being said, I think our kids understand that. They're playing well and feeling good about how they're playing."

Including Saturday's matchup, two of Maryknoll's three final regular-season games will be against Kamehameha — both of them at the Warriors' Kekuhaupio Gymnasium.

Any Maryknoll win or Kamehameha loss in the final week of the season gives the Spartans the ILH regular-season title and secures a fourth straight state tournament berth.

"We're in a good position and we've just got to keep growing," said Furtado, whose team reached the Division I state final last season. "At this point we haven't won anything yet."

Tip off between the Spartans and Warriors Saturday is scheduled for 6 p.m.