Kamehameha shut out Saint Louis in the first six minutes of the first and third periods and pulled away for a 41-27 victory last night, earning third place in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu and a shot at the 12th and final available boys Division I basketball state tournament berth.

A vocal home crowd of about 600 at Kekuhaupi'o Gym watched the Warriors, ranked No. 4 in The Advertiser's statewide Top 10 poll of coaches and media, improve to 10-4 in the regular and postseason. They will face Honoka'a, which beat Waiakea last night to clinch third place in the Big Island Interscholastic Federation, at 3 p.m. tomorrow at Hilo's Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium.

Tomorrow's winner advances to next week's state tournament, which starts Wednesday.

"This feels great. Saint Louis is always such a strong team, but we rose to the occasion," said Kamehameha guard Pi'i Minns, who finished with a game-high 14 points. "Coach Jessie (Nakanishi) prides ourselves in defense, and we practice defense every day before offense. Our 2-3 zone is tough to get around, because we're long and athletic. It also lets us go small and still match up and rebound.

"It's tough to beat."

The No. 7-ranked Crusaders (7-7) found the zone tough to score against from the outset. Their first points came with 1:48 remaining in the first period, on Jamison Miller's baseline jumper after the Warriors had built an 8-0 lead.

Minns' jumper at the buzzer put Kamehameha up 12-4.

Saint Louis cut it to 20-14 by halftime, but again struggled to find the basket in the third period.

Miller again ended the drought with a putback, with 2:03 left in the quarter. But by that time, the Warriors led 27-16 and a layup by freshman Micah Christiansen made it 29-16 a minute later.

Michael Tuiloma sank two free throws after a technical foul to close the Crusaders to 29-19 entering the fourth period, but they could get no closer than eight points the rest of the way.

Cole Shidaki's jumper with 3:09 remaining cut it to 31-23, but that would be Saint Louis' final field goal.

"We caught a groove and made 12 of 16 free throws in the fourth quarter, and that's the fourth-quarter finish we've been waiting for," Nakanishi said. "I'm so proud of the boys, because there's been a lot of ups and downs this season."

Nakanishi said the grind of the competitive league season made last night's victory even more gratifying.

"It's a huge lift off our shoulders just to get out of the ILH," he said. "We've still got one more game to get into the state tournament, but hopefully we travel well and take care of business."

SAINT LOUIS (7-7) 4 10 5 8— 27

KAMEHAMEHA (10-4) 12 8 9 12 — 41

SAINT LOUIS — Lucas Gonsalves 2, Micah McClinton 0, Corey Lau 0, Dean Viena 4, Kyle Gonzaga 0, Cole Shidaki 8, Marcus Umu 4, Michael Tuiloma 5, Jamison Miller 4, Moses Samia 0. Totals 9 9-12 27.

KAMEHAMEHA — Kauila Miller 2, Edmund Kamano 2, Jonathan Hew-Len 0, Kawika Lyons 7, Chaz Bajet 0, Brandon Dumlao 4, Pi'i Minns 14, Auwae DeRego 0, Shawn Bode 0, Micah Christenson 5, Blake Viena 2, Damien Kaehuaea 1, Kamakoa Jovanovich 4. Totals 10 20-31 41. 3-point goals: . Kamehameha 1 (Lyons).

Reported by Kamehameha Athletics

DIVISION II

CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 66, LANAKILA BAPTIST 50

Jason Ko scored 27 points and Michael Urcia added 20 as the Patriots captured the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division II Tournament last night at Hawai'i Baptist Academy gym.

Axton Durand added nine points for the Patriots (7-5), who will play Kaiser tomorrow for the final berth into next week's Division II state tournament.

Keawe Ochmann scored 18 points and Chase Hazlewood 14 for the Warriors, who finished the season 5-7.

Last night, Lanakila Baptist surged to an 18-9 lead after one quarter. The Warriors still led 32-31 at the half, but the Patriots responded by outscoring Lanakila Baptist 17-8 in the third quarter to seize control.

CHRISTIAN ACAD. (7-5) 9 22 17 18 — 66

LANAKILA BAPTIST (5-7) 18 14 8 10 — 50

CHRISTIAN ACADEMY — Michael Urcia 20, Abel Orbistondo 8, Joshua Kaoiwi 0, Ryan Kobayashi 0, Axton Durand 9, Zachary Fu 0, Jake Okamura 0, Brett Koga 0, Jason Ko 27, Robert Helsham 0, Jathniel Manahan 2. Totals 24 15-25 66.

LANAKILA BAPTIST — Zachary Ramos 4, Joshua Pananganan 2, Marcus Takahashi 2, Armando Cayabyab 6, Keawe Ochmann 18, Chase Hazlewood 14, Cole Deyoung 2, Christian Oasay 2, Glenn Yri 0. Totals 23 4-6 50.

3-point goals: Christian Academy 3 (Ko 2, Urcia).

Reported by Deren Oshiro

DIVISION I-AA

PUNAHOU 47, KAMEHAMEHA 31

Jeremy Kaimikaua scored 11 points as the Buffanblu (7-2) beat the Warriors (6-3) for the Division I-AA title.

PUNAHOU (7-2) 6 17 13 11 — 47

KAMEHAMEHA (6-3) 10 9 6 6 — 31

PUNAHOU — Andrew Kuriyama 9, Micah Marter 3, Galen Arakawa 3, Damien Pherigo 6, Jeremy Kaimikaua 11, Cale Honda 2, Darryl Cheng 2, Matt Blanco 5, Jacob Brovelli 0, Nicholas Kido 6, Spencer Dung 0, Pono Akina 0, Joshua Bninski 0. Totals 15 13-21 47.

KAMEHAMEHA — Conway Kaka 0, Kai Rilliet 8, Jacob Teixeira 2, Kevin Chandler 5, Walter Clistro 5, Kepoo Noa 4, Kalihau Pimental 4, Kawai Makuakane 3, Derrick Vidinha 0, Rylee Urasaki 0, Kalai Ahlo-Souza 0. Totals 10 9-19 31. 3-point goals: Punahou 4 (Kuriyama, Kaimikaua 2, Blanco). Kamehameha 2 (Rilliet, Calistro).

Reported by Kamehameha Athletics

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

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.