Na Ali'i won their first league game since 2005 with a hard-fought 24-21 decision against Kamehameha-Maui at the Warriors' gym on Friday night.

"It took a team effort, they believed in themselves and I am real proud of them,'' first-year coach Steve Dumlao said to The Maui News. "This is something real good for them to build on. This is exactly what our program needed.''

Na Ali'i are now 1-1 in Maui Interscholastic League Division I play after an 0-9 season last year. Kamehameha fell to 0-2 after jumping out to an early 5-0 lead and taking a 15-8 advantage to halftime.

"I don't have much to say,'' Kamehameha coach Joe Blackburn said. "King Kekaulike played hard. They deserved it. They won it.''

Na Ali'i didn't score until Kaitlin Dela Cruz made a pair of free throws with 2 minutes, 13 seconds left in the first quarter to cut their deficit to 5-2.

Two more Na Ali'i free throws cut the score to 5-4 at the end of the first quarter, but Kamehameha took control with a 10-4 advantage in the second quarter. Natasha Kealoha scored the Warriors' first seven points of the period to push the lead to 12-7 with 2:38 to go before halftime.

Na Ali'i cut the deficit to 17-16 at the end of the third when Santasia Perales-Manoa drove the lane with 31 seconds to go and Mykel Love added a free throw with five ticks left before the fourth quarter.

Two Love free throws gave King Kekaulike its first lead, 20-19, with 4:00 to play.

Kamehameha took its final lead on a 15-foot jumper by Sage DeCosta with 3:11 to go.

A free throw by Love tied the game with 1:16 left.

It stayed 21-21 until the final seconds when King Kekaulike's Briani Carillo took a boucne pass from Leah Hashimoto and made a layup with 12 seconds left.

A 12-foot jumper by Kamehameha's Nanea Cavaco rimmed out with four seconds left and the rebound went out of bounds with three ticks on the clock.

Kacie Norman took the inbounds pass from Kiana Avelino and was promptly fouled. Norman made the second of two free throws to account for the final score when Erin Ventura's 3-point try at the buzzer was short.

"They can go home tonight and sleep feeling good about themselves, knowing what hard work and teamwork will do,'' Dumlao said. "This is the first win for our program in a longtime and it is a reward for what they know – when they believe in each other they can get things done. Our philosophy is we build as a family.''

Carillo and Love led Na Ali'i with five points each, while Hashimoto and Dela Cruz both added four.

"Our motto is 'I believe,' '' Dumlao said. "To get this win over our cross-the-street rival is great. Kamehameha has a great program and athletes over there. It was big for us, really big for us.''

Kealoha led the Warriors with 11 points before fouling out, but no one else had more than four.