Kamehameha-Hawai'i, in just its fourth year as a varsity program, held off five-time defending champ 'Iolani, 57-54, in tonight's quarterfinals at Radford's James Alegre Gym.

The Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion and No. 3 seeded Warriors improved to 16-2 in the regular and post-season and will face Kaimuki, a 53-51 winner of Saint Louis in the other semifinal.

Tomorrow's semifinals will be held at Stan Sheriff Center.

Tipoff is set for 8 p.m., and the game will be televised live statewide on OC-16.

"I told our team before the game, 'This is David vs. Goliath,' " said Kamehameha-Hawai'i senior point guard Mea Wong, who finished with a team-high 13 points. "They're the five-time champion, they've been state champs ever since we (started) high school. Nobody knows about us, nobody cares about us, so we had to earn the respect."

The Warriors made their statement quickly, jumping out to a surprising 9-0 lead mostly on easy layups. Isaiah Kekaualua's 3-pointer from the corner gave Kamehemeha-Hawai'i a 12-5 lead entering the second period.

The Raiders (11-3) closed it to 22-16 by halftime, but began to write its epitaph on the free throw line by missing 9 of 10 in the quarter, includng eight in a row during one stretch. For the game, 'Iolani made just 16 of 38 free throws, including three misses in a row after a fouled 3-point atempt in the fourth period.

"We¹ve been very inconsistent (on free throws)," said Raiders coach Mark Mugiishi. "We played (the Warriors) in the preseason and we knew they are very athletic and they play good defense. Give them credit. But it almost doesn't matter who you play when you shoot as poorly as we did. It's just about putting the ball in the basket."

Kamehameha-Hawaii opened it to 42-32 early in the final quarter, but 'Iolani slowly clawed its way back.

But Ryan Dung's desperation shot from three-quarter court was blocked at the buzzer, setting off a Warriors celebration and ending 'Iolani's record streak.