Hooper split open her chin and had to leave the court where she also left some blood. She sat out the rest of the first half, but the Farmers only seemed to play better from that point in a 47-26 win over Seabury Hall.

The victory gave Moloka'i the Maui Interscholastic League Division II regular-season title and the state tournament berth that goes with it. The three-time defending champion Spartans, who finished the regular season with the same 9-1 record as the Farmers, are back to the drawing board in this week's MIL tournament.

When Hooper left it was 19-13, but the Farmers added three points in her absence to take a 22-13 lead at halftime. The second half was all Moloka'i as Hooper returned with a butterfly bandage on her chin that will require stitches to heal.

Nailing down a state berth was sweet relief to the Farmers, who have today off before returning as the No. 1 seed in the MIL D-II tournament Wednesday when they will play the winner of today's Lana'i-Hana game. Moloka'i missed the state tournament last season when it had two games with chances to nail down a berth.

"We are like a highly motivated team and, I don't know, we just believe in ourselves 100 percent,'' Hooper said to The Maui News after finishing with 14 points, five assists and two steals. "We don't just believe in ourselves, but in our team, too.''

Moloka'i coach Doug Furlong had to be reminded that his team had just secured a state tournament berth, but when he remembered, he knew it was a big step. The Farmers will stay at the new National Guard armory on Mokulele Highway instead of their usual Maui High gym this week. The armory has a gym in it.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that,'' Furlong said of the state berth. "Breaking this regular-season drought with Seabury Hall in control was more on my mind. That's good and it is nice to have (today) off.''

Amber Sterner, a senior forward, got the Farmers off to a running start by scoring their first six points and eight of their first 10. She tied Hooper for team-high honors with 14 points.

"I felt good from the beginning,'' Sterner said. "It started in the warm-ups, everything just went smooth. I don't know, I just started it off from there.''

Moloka'i shot 17-for-36 from the field to overcome 28 turnovers. The Spartans were plagued by cold shooting – 9-for-44 (20.5 percent) from the field and 8-for-19 from the free-throw line.

Sterner said that having their state-tournament ticket punched removes the pressure for the rest of the week. The Farmers can clinch the overall MIL D-II title by winning the tournament or beating the tournament champion in a playoff game.

"We really suffered last year when we didn't go to state,'' Sterner said. "Not making it to the state tournament really pushed us this year.''

Hooper said she wasn't worried when she went out in the first half after she fell hard after being fouled on a fast break.

"We have no doubts in our team,'' Hooper said. "It feels good because we didn't want to have the same feeling like we did last year.''

Seabury Hall coach Phil Tongg said that the Farmers are a tough team, even without Hooper. The Spartans have had a full roster at every practice for just the last six days after the school's soccer team, which includes four basketball players, lost last Tuesday in a state tournament play-in game.

"They were tough tonight, real tough, more than we could handle,'' Tongg said of the Farmers. "Danna means a lot to them, but she is not the team. They showed it tonight. All of those other girls are playing their roles and it is working. When Danna had to come out, we didn't advance on them.''

Tongg said that he expects to see the Farmers again. If they meet in the tournament final, a Seabury Hall win would force the fifth meeting between the two this season in a winner-take-all finale for the overall league title.

"We would like to think that this was an off game and I told the girls, 'We have got to play Moloka'i twice, if not three times this week,' " Tongg said. "They won this one.''

After leading by nine at the half, the Farmers took complete control midway through the third quarter. Hooper hit a 3-pointer and Sterner scored on an assist from Kristan Forsberg to make it 31-18 Farmers with 2:40 to go in the third.

Hooper hit a jumper at the buzzer to make it 34-22 going into the final quarter – that started a 12-0 run that made it 44-22 with 2:51 to play.

MOLOKA'I (47)

Danna-Lynn Hooper 5 4-8 14, Ayla Bicoy 0 0-0 0, Rosie Akaka 0 0-0 0, Brittany Rawlins 0 0-0 0, Jolenta Duvauchelle 0 0-0 0, Kyli Jo Mawae 0 0-0 0, Jamie Duvauchelle 0 0-0 0, Amber Sterner 6 2-2 14, Tawney Fernandez 1 2-2 5, Kawena Puhi 1 0-0 2, Kristan Forsberg 0 0-0 0, Kalei Adolpho 3 3-6 9, Puna Kawamae 1 0-0 2, Hilary Chow 0 1-2 1. Totals 17 12-20 47.

SEABURY HALL (26)

Allicia Imada 0 0-0 0, Michelle Mallen 0 0-2 0, Yacine Meyer 4 1-6 9, Wailana Spangler 0 0-0 0, Charlotta Burns 0 0-0 0, Leslie Smith 0 0-0 0, Sierra Jacob 1 5-9 7, Ariel Duell 3 0-0 6, Samantha Monge 0 2-2 2, Taylor Rudow 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 8-19 26.

Moloka'i 15 7 12 13–47

Seabury Hall 9 4 9 4–26

3-point goals–Moloka'i 1 (Fernandez), Seabury Hall 0. Total fouls–Moloka'i 13, Seabury Hall 17. Fouled out–None.