Jansen Agapay hit a three-pointer from the left corner with 44 seconds left in regulation to lift King Kekaulike to an opening round win over Kamehameha-Kapalama in the Hawaiian Airlines Boys Basketball State Championships at Radford's Alegre Gymnasium.

"I drove it at first, I didn't get nothing... but I went back up and shot the ball and it went in." said Agapay, who would finish with 11 points, including 4-of-4 from the free-throw line.

Agapay's three, the only one made from distance by Na Alii in the game, would ultimately give the victory to the never-say-die squad from Maui, who came into the tournament unseeded after finishing the regular season as the MIL runner-up.

"It's the first time in 17 years that our school has been there (to the state tournament) and these kids deserve it. We're really young, but you know what, they play with a lot of heart." said head coach Bill Naylor.

A clearly ecstatic Naylor added, "We could have easily gave up when they (Kamehameha) got up early... but we gotta just fight, we got a couple breaks, we got a couple rebounds, and then Jansen hits that big shot."

Kamehameha, the defending Divsion I state champion, would build an early 9-0 advantage in the first quarter, but King Kekaulike steadily chipped away at that margin,
closing to 19-14 at halftime.

The Warriors would continue to lead until the 5:32 mark in the fourth period, when Agapay gave Jacob Havron a pass in-stride for a layup to tie the score at 33-33.

Then at the 1:34 mark with Kamehameha up one, Agapay would find a cutting Chase Iwata-Bartelme with a bounce pass that the 6-foot forward would bank home despite being fouled. Iwata-Bartelme would swish the ensuing free throw to give Na Alii their first lead at 38-36.

Enos would draw a foul on the next possession, and knocked down both attempts at the line to tie the game once again.

On the following possession, Agapay drove to the basket and missed a layup attempt, which was rebounded by teammate Jordan Mauliola. Mauliola returned the ball to Agapay in the left corner, who drilled the shot to give Kekaulike the lead for good at 41-38 with 44 seconds left in regulation.

After a missed three-point attempt on the next Warriors' possession, Na Alii would get the ball back and Havron would be fouled, making both free throws with just over 20 seconds to stretch the lead to five. Kamehameha would get a few attempts from the perimeter in the closing seconds, but would not manage to put any more points on the board.

Iwata-Bartelme, who finished with a team-high 16 points in the contest, played a key role for the Na Alii.

"Chase is only a sophomore and he's just learning the game. When he finally figures out how good he can be, he's gonna be really tough." said Naylor.

Enos, a senior guard, poured in a game-high 20 points for Kamehameha.

Naylor summed up the win for his program saying, "We just had to come in, nobody expected us to come in and do anything. All I told our guys is, come in, have fun, play the game hard like they've been doing all year, and you know to come out with a win, that's great for our town, great for our school... I think people were shocked, I don't think anybody knew who we were."

Up next for King Kekaulike is second-seeded Kahuku, in a 7 p.m. quarterfinal tomorrow night back at Radford. The game will be televised live on OC16.

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