Punahou notched an historic victory for Hawai'i basketball last night, holding off Los Angeles power Narbonne (Harbor City, Calif.) 47-39 in the semifinals of the inaugural 'Iolani Girls Prep Classic.

Senior Shawna-Lei Kuehu scored 24 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, made two steals and had one assist for the Buffanblu, who will face another Los Angeles power, Redondo Union (Redondo Beach) for the championship at 8 tonight.

Narbonne, which is coming off a 26-3 season and won LA City Section titles in 2003, 2005 and 2006, will play 'Iolani for third place at 6:30.

"This is Hawai'i, so we don't want to come in second, third or fourth; we want to try to finish first," said Kuehu, a 5-foot-10 forward who has signed a national letter of intent to play for the University of California next season. "Playing teams like (Narbonne and Redondo) can only make us better, win or lose, but we want to win."

Punahou started strong — jumping out to a 6-0 lead — and never really let down, even after the Gauchos cut it to 43-37 after a layup by Reiko Thomas with 17 seconds remaining. Kuehu swished four straight free throw attempts in the final 15 seconds to seal the win.

"Our girls competed and played hard the whole game, like all Hawai'i teams do," Buffanblu coach Mike Taylor said. "When we play top teams from the Mainland, we want to represent Hawai'i basketball, so even if we're undersized we want to compete, show composure and play with a big heart.

It's a nice win not just for our school, but for the whole state."

Narbonne coach Victoria Sanders said the officiating played a role in her team's loss.

"If the game was called right, then I think there would have been a different outcome," Sanders said.

The Gauchos made 21 of 35 free throws; Punahou made 16 of 25.

Narbonne cut the Buffanblu lead to 9-7 by early in the second period, but Punahou responded with an 8-2 run to lead 17-9 after Janelle Nomura's layup with 3:09 remaining in the first half.

Thomas, who led the Gauchos with 19 points, sank four free throws in the final 1:12 of the half to cut it to 20-14 at intermission.

But Narbonne could not get closer in the second half, and trailed 28-21 heading into the fourth quarter.

After the Gauchos closed to 34-28 midway through the fourth, Kuehu made a left-handed scoop shot in the lane and was fouled. She swished the free throw to make it 37-28 with 3:30 left, then made two more free throws a minute later for a 39-28 lead.

REDONDO UNION 40, 'IOLANI 29

Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, Calif.) withstood 'Iolani's patient offense last night before rallying past and eventually pulling away from the Raiders in the semifinals of the inaugural 'Iolani Girls Prep Classic.

The Sea Hawks, who advanced to the fourth round of the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section playoffs last season, will face Punahou for the championship at 8 tonight.

The Raiders will play Narbonne (Calif.) for third place at 6:30.

'Iolani jumped out to a 9-2 lead last night, but later found the shots harder to come by and even harder to fall. A 10-0 run by Redondo Union put the Sea Hawks up, 12-9, with 2:43 remaining in the half.

Kylie Ahlo's baseline layup closed it to 12-11, but Atonye Nyingifa made two free throws and a three-point play to give Redondo Union a 17-11 halftime lead.

The Sea Hawks then limited the Raiders to two 3-point goals by Chanel Hirata in the third period and led 27-17 heading into the fourth. 'Iolani could not get closer than nine points the rest of the way.

Raiders' All-State center Jamie Smith finished with 11 points and grabbed a game-high 18 rebounds.

SEMIFINALS

REDONDO 4 13 10 13 — 40

'IOLANI 9 2 6 12 — 29

REDONDO — Alana Young 0, Maleta Daugherty 0, Joylyn Ichiyama 8, Cherie Hughes 2, Ashley Mason 0, Ryann Louie 4, Javana Kizer 0, Ella Mason 2, Atonye Nyingifa 20, Krystalle Fountain 4. Totals 15 8-17 40.

'IOLANI — Tami Konishi 0, Kylie Ahlo 4, Lahela Usui 0, Lori Yamashita 2, Chanel Hirata 11, Dayna Jandoc 1, Jamie Smith 11, Raechele Takara 0, Shauni Watanabe 0, Hailey Maeda 0. Totals 10 5-13 29.

3-point goals: Redondo 2 (Ichiyama 2). 'Iolani 4 (Hirata 3, Smith 1).

NARBONNE (CALIF.) VS. PUNAHOU

NARBONNE 6 8 7 18 — 39

PUNAHOU 9 11 8 19 — 47

NARBONNE — Tailer Butler 0, Theresa Henderson 0, Briauna Linton 5, Danielle Lenoir 9, Lauren Payton 0, Tipesa Moorer 1, Gabrielle Clark 5, Reiko Thomas 19. Totals 9 21-35 39.

PUNAHOU — Rebecca Lau 0, Brittnie Lau 0, Dara Tompkison 7, Anna Merrifield 0, Shawna Lei Kuehu 24, Ashley Satterwhite 0, Shaena Lyn Kuehu 5, Janelle Nomura 3, Janet Li 0, Jenny Ching 0, Julia Brand 0, Tressa Torres 8, Tiera Jenson 0. Totals 15 16-25 47.

3-point goals: Punahou 1 (Shaw. Kuehu 1).

CONSOLATION BRACKET

KAMEHAMEHA 68, MOANALUA 44

Leading scorers—KS: Rhani Kaneaiakala 15, Abbley Tiana 14. Moa: Britni Ronolo 22.

ROOSEVELT 48, GRANADA (CALIF.) 39

Leading scorers—Roos: Dianna Zane 20. Gran: Katie Thralls 14.

Read Wes Nakama's blog on prep sports at http://blogs.honoluluadvertiser.com.

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.

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