Kaimuki's Victoria Kintz dribbles the ball up the floor against Mililani in an OIA Division I semifinal game Tuesday night. Michael Lasquero | SL

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Tue, Jan 24, 2017 @ Waipahu

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Mililani

41

Kaimuki

44

Final	1	2	3	4
Mililani (10-3, 18-8)	7	7	12	15	41
Kaimuki (9-1, 16-11)	11	13	10	10	44

V. Kintz 16 pts  4/7 FTs

D. Sablay 18 pts  2 3pm  6/8 FTs

WAIPAHU – No. 7 Kaimuki fought off a furious second-half run by Mililani in a 44-41 semifinal win of the Oahu Interscholastic Association Division I girls' basketball tournament Tuesday night at Waipahu High's gym.

The Bulldogs (15-8) will play No. 6 Farrington (13-4) for the Division I crown Thursday at Waipahu. Ironically, the Eastern Division co-champions have combined to win the past three D2 titles. Kaimuki, which won the past two, is seeking to be the first OIA girls' team to win back-to-back crowns in different divisions. Farrington won the D2 crown in 2014.

The title game also is a rematch of their regular-season meeting, won by the Bulldogs. Both teams were 9-1 during the regular season, but Kaimuki was awarded the division's top seed for the tournament by the head-to-head tiebreaker.

The Trojans (15-5) will play Leilehua (15-10), last year's D1 champion, for third place also Thursday at Waipahu.

Victoria Kintz led the Bulldogs with 16 points with six rebounds and two steals. Sirena Titer followed with 12 points on four 3-pointers.

Freshman Dahlis Sablay nearly rallied the Trojans single handedly with 12 of the game-high 16 points coming in the second half.

"It feels great," Kaimuki coach Mona Faasoa said of reaching the title game. "It feels great. The kids, honestly, deserve it. They worked hard. Hey, one more day of practice and we face (Farrington)."

The Bulldogs, indeed, worked for their victory.

Their defense held the Trojans to just three field goals in the first half, as the Bulldogs took a 24-14 lead at the break.

"Whew, I don't know, man," Mililani coach Patrick Basilio said. "We left our game on the bus for the first two quarters. We were so out of our element in the first half. Too much excitement. For them, this was their first TV game this year. I have a pretty young team. They had to settle down a little bit. I'm glad they did (in the second half). We showed we were capable of playing with Kaimuki in the second half."

The Trojans outscored the Bulldogs, 12-10 in the third quarter, but Kaimuki still held a comfortable 34-26 lead.

Sablay scored Mililani's first 12 points of the fourth quarter to pull the Trojans to within four. Her outside shooting helped loosen the post, as 6-foo-2 Cheyenne Ardona picked up six points in the paint. Hope Carter, held to 2 points, had 10 rebounds.

"They're big so they were pounding it on the inside," Faasoa said. "We had to try and adjust, but every time we tried to make the corrections, the girls, they panicked, too, on the press. It's just the intensity of the game, but, hey, a W is a W."

The Bulldogs had three turnovers that led to three points to pull Mililani to within 42-41. But the Trojans were 3 of 10 from the free-throw line in the second half to hurt their comeback effort..

Kintz scored with 55 seconds left, but missed the ensuing free throw after she was fouled to make it 44-41. Kaimuki would miss bonus free throws with 12 and 2 seconds left, but the Trojans failed to capitalize.

"It's the ending of the game that counts," Faasoa said. "Hat's off to Mililani. They're tough. That freshman (Sablay), she's hard to stop."