Sam Wilhoite scored a game-high 18 points and the Mustangs withstood a fourth-quarter rally in their 55-44 quarterfinal victory in the HHSAA/Hawaiian Airlines Boys State Basketball Championship Tournament at Blaisdell Arena.

Kalaheo, the O'ahu Interscholastic Association champion, will play Punahou in the semifinals tonight at 8:30.

Kalaheo led by as many as 20 points in the second quarter, but nearly saw the game slip away in the fourth quarter when Kamehameha cut the lead to 44-40 on Waika Spencer's basket.

Wilhoite responded with two consecutive baskets, and the Mustangs' defense allowed just four points in the final 1:28 of the game.

"We shot the ball extremely well in the beginning and jumped out to a big lead, but at halftime we told our kids this game is played over 32 minutes," Kalaheo coach Chico Furtado said. "We knew at some point, Kamehameha was going to make a run."

Furtado and Wilhoite said last night's game was nearly identical to last year's quarterfinal game between the same two teams. In that game, Kalaheo took an early double-digit lead, but lost in overtime.

"It was good to have the lead but it was scary," Wilhoite said. "We knew it was a carbon copy of the game last year. We had to be stronger in the second half and not let the lead go like we did last year."

Last night's game matched two of Hawai'i's top post players — Wilhoite and Kamehameha's Spencer.

In addition to his offense, Wilhoite grabbed 13 rebounds and had three blocks. Spencer finished with five points, nine rebounds and one block.

"I was reading the paper and it said that (Wilhoite) was unstoppable," Spencer said. "It showed tonight. I was getting my hand in his face, and I was pushing him around, but he found ways to score."

Kalaheo sprinted to a 13-0 first-quarter lead before Kamehameha scored its first point on Kevin-Michael Hardie's free throw.

Kalaheo led 25-5 in the second quarter, and took a 32-17 halftime lead on Theo Fujita's 3-point shot at the buzzer.

"We got down 18-3 (in the first quarter), we could have easily laid it up," Kamehameha coach Jesse Nakanishi said. "But the boys came back. I'm extremely proud of them."

Kamehameha trailed 42-26 in the third quarter, but went on a 14-2 run to close to 44-40 with 3:50 remaining in the game.

Consecutive baskets by Wilhoite increased Kalaheo's lead to 48-40 with 2:28 remaining, and cut short any hopes of a Kamehameha comeback.

"All season long our coach was telling us to play with heart and play with pride," Spencer said. "We did junk in the beginning, but we tried to step it up in the end. We didn't quit."

• Kamehameha (11-7) 3 14 15 12—44
• Kalaleo (13-0) 18 14 10 13—55

Kamehameha—Ikaika Hardie 3-9 3-5 9, Vance Wright 0-1 0-0 0, Rykin Enos 1-2 2-5 5, Quincy Crowell 4-7 0-0 11, Mike Nii 0-2 0-0 0, Jacob Bode 0-0 0-0 0, Parker Bode 0-0 0-0 0, Matthew Kam 0-1 0-0 0, Waika Spencer 2-10 1-2 5, Kapono Kuikahi 0-0 0-0 0, Ernie Vidinha 2-2 2-4 6, Ikaika Shelton 0-0 0-0 0, Gabriel Spencer 0-1 0-0 0, Gavin Loo 0-0 0-0 0, Kawika Hepa 3-6 0-0 8. Totals 15-41 8-16 44.

Kalaheo—Elias Ayau 0-0 0-0 0, Chris Tumaneng 1-1 1-2 3, Matt Nakashima 1-2 1-3 4, Theo Fujita 3-7 2-3 10, Kahua Hollinger 0-0 0-0 0, William Elliott 5-9 3-4 14, Marvin Judd 0-0 0-0 0, Neil Bowers 1-4 0-0 3, Joshua Perry 0-0 0-0 0, David Moore 0-0 2-2 2, Clifton Pires 0-0 0-0 0, Jason Tanaka 0-0 1-2 1, Daniel Phair 0-0 0-0 0, Sam Wilhoite 7-17 3-4 18. Totals 18-40 13-20 55.