Punahou's Tyra Moe scored a game-high 21 points and 12 rebounds in a win over Maryknoll. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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Punahou's Tyra Moe scored a game-high 21 points and 12 rebounds in a win over Maryknoll. Greg Yamamoto | SL

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KALAEPOHAKU — The Interscholastic League of Honolulu champion will have to wait another night.

Led by Tyra Moe's 21 points, No. 4 Punahou (12-2 ILH) dropped No. 3 Maryknoll (12-2 ILH), 52-48 in ILH single elimination tournament final at Saint Louis' McCabe Gymnasium. Both teams will play again on Saturday at Hawaii Baptist Academy to determine the overall league champion and seeded state tournament berth.

Moe scored 10 of her 21 points in the first quarter to set the tone offensively. She also grabbed 12 rebounds for the game.

"With Vae out, she's one of the main players in there. We want to see each other succeed and I wanted to contribute as much and if the open player is there, I hit them," said Moe.

"This team has been hungry for that, in the back of our minds it's about the ILH championship. Tyra is a senior and she really took control tonight and I was proud of her," said Punahou coach Liz Kam.

Punahou only made one field goal in the fourth quarter, but made it up going 13-for-17 from the free throw line. Kamaile Kandiah's drive and Moe's free throws gave the Buffanblu a 41-35 lead to start the fourth quarter.

"We tell the kids all the time that free throws win games. We practice it and tonight they came through and it paid off," said Kam.

"It's a bunch of things. Give them credit, they protected the lead and hit free throws," said Maryknoll coach Chico Furtado. "We had open opportunities but we didn't finish. I felt we had the right people in the right spots, but the bottom line is the ball has to go in the hole."

Georjette Stietzel drained a 3-pointer from the left wing as the Lady Spartans trailed by three, 41-38 and Maryknoll called a timeout. The final 2 minutes and 45 seconds was determined at the free throw line as the Buffanblu shot 9-for-10 during that stretch. Lexie Taylor went 3-for-4, Elle Uyeda went 4-for-4 and Moe was 2-for-2.

Chayse Milne, who finished with 16 points, scored seven points in Maryknoll's late rally. Kodee Viena drove baseline and kicked it out to Milne, who knocked down the 3 as Maryknoll trailed, 50-47 with 15.6 seconds left.

"We told our girls, no 3's and get out on the 3 and shots were contested. They boxed out and grabbed the boards, slowed down the tempo on offense and the girls did it tonight," said Kam.

Moe was fouled by Milne with 14.3 seconds left and sank both foul shots. Rhianne Omori was fouled, but only went 1-for-2 from the line. Moe was fouled again with 5.3 seconds remaining, but missed both free throws. Maryknoll's last shot was no good as the buzzer sounded.

Maryknoll led 26-21 at halftime.

Punahou came out on a 12-2 run to start the second half to go up, 33-28. Alexis Delovio's 3-point play reclaimed the lead for Maryknoll, 35-34, however, Kandiah's fastbreak layup and a free throw with 0.1 seconds left gave the Buffanblu a 37-35 lead going into the fourth.

"It's one of those things, we weren't finishing in the third, they made their run and we helped them with turnovers," said Furtado.

"They are a strong team inside and out. They can hit the 3 and they have good post players. Even if we were tired, we have to keep going and they are a great team and we lost to them twice and we didn't want to lose to them again," said Moe.