Na Menehune improved to 2-1 in the OIA Red Conference Eastern Division, while the Falcons fell to 2-1.

"Since everybody plays each other only once in the regular season this year, the (head-to-head) tiebreakers could be very important," Moanalua coach Greg Tacon said. "So in that sense, wins like this are awesome."

Things were not looking so awesome for Na Menehune early in the third period, when Takezo Iguchi drained a 3-pointer to put Kalani up, 26-12, with 6:12 remaining. But little did everyone know, that would be the Falcons' only field goal over the next 13 minutes, until Sam Kahalewai's layup with 50 seconds left in the ball game.

In the meantime, Moanalua went on a stunning 18-2 run capped by Eliet Donley's free throw with 4:14 remaining.

"They got the momentum at home, and momentum is such a big thing," Falcons coach Nathan Davis said. "The rim got tiny for us."

Still Kahaewai's layup off Kory Kashiwabara's assist tied the score at 30-30, and even after Josh Kang and Kahanu Pu'ulei-Auld each sank a free throw to make it 32-30 with 14 seconds left, Kalani had a golden opportunity to tie it again.

But Tatsuya Ono's layup came up short after a drive down an open lane from the right side, and Daib Starks was fouled after the ensuing rebound and swished a free throw with 1.3 seconds remaining to seal the victory.

The Falcons had taken a 23-12 halftime lead after finishing with a 17-4 run over the final 12 minutes.

"They've got some shooters and they're great off the dribble," Tacon said of Kalani. "So in the second half we did a better job of keeping them in front of us. Our second group (Kang, Starks, Jonah Ramelb, Alex Hutson and Brent Yee) came in and actually got us back in the game. We went away from our normal rotation and wanted more athletic guys in there. We're not the best offensive team, we know that. So we have to focus on getting good shots against the zone and getting offensive rebounds."

Ono led all scorers with 11 points and added three assists and two steals.