Kamehameha denied the visiting Owls their first berth last night with a 54-45 victory at Kekuhaupi'o Gym. The Warriors (10-6) will be the Interscholastic League of Honolulu's third representative at next week's tournament at Blaisdell Arena.

Iolani and Punahou had already clinched the ILH's other two berths.

MPI (8-9) was as close to earning its first state berth as it had ever been just by being in last night's playoff game, and the Owls liked their chances since they had defeated Kamehameha, 52-51, on Feb. 3.

But those hopes became slimmer with 1:17 remaining in the first half, when MPI leading scorer Chris Perry went down with an injury to his left ankle and did not return.

Mid-Pacific was trailing only 25-21 at the time, but the Warriors ended the half with seven straight points to lead 32-21 at intermission.

"It's just one of those things that happens," said Owls coach Bill Wheeler of Perry's injury, which occurred in a crowded lane during a Kamehameha layup attempt. "We certainly would have had a better chance with him in there, but our guys didn't give up until the end. I'm proud of the way they played."

Josh Mitchell scored eight straight points for MPI to keep the Owls close early in the third period, but the Warriors then went on a 14-0 run to lead 50-29 early in the fourth. Mid-Pacific finally snapped the run and answered with its own 11-0 surge, and Chris Freshour's 3-pointer closed it to 52-43 with 1:24 left.

But free throws by Ikaika Hardie and Waika Spencer sealed it for Kamehameha.

"All season long, our goal was to make it to states," Spencer said. "We probably took Mid-Pac too lightly last time and they beat us, but we didn't play to our potential. Tonight we came out and played really hard from the beginning."

Spencer finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds, and Hardie added 10 points. Mitchell led the Owls with 18 points.

• Mid-Pacific (8-9) 14 7 8 16 — 45
• Kamerhameha (10-6) 19 13 13 9 — 54

MID-PACIFIC — Burton Woodhull 0, Cody Walker 0, Josh Mitchell 18, Chris Perry 6, Ryan Chun 7, JD Lum 0, Kellen Hastie 9, Chris Freshour 5. Totals 16 11-15 45.

KAMEHAMEHA — Ikaika Hardie 10, Keo Pacarro 6, Rykin Enos 0, Jacob Ho 0, Quincy Crowell 0, Mike Nii 7, Jacob Bode 0, Parker Bode 0, Waika Spencer 15, Kapono Kuikahi 0, Ernie Vidinha 2, Ikaika Shelton 4, Gabe Spencer 0, Kawika Hepa 10. Totals 20 10-15 54.

3-point goals — Mid-Pacific 2 (Chun, Freshour). Kamehameha 4 (Pacarro 2, Hardie, Nii).

BIIF

• Kealakehe wins title: Jared Urusa and Kyle Teves each scored 17 points Friday night to lead Kealakehe past Waiakea, 68-58, in the Big Island Interscholastic Federation tournament championship game.

The Waveriders (15-0) also won the regular-season title and avoided a winner-take-all game for the overall crown by defeating the Warriors (12-3).

Michael Belmes led Waiakea with 14 points and Tyler Ishimura and Kahanu Irizarri each added 12 points.