Punahou reached the Hawaiian Airlines/Hawai'i High School Athletic Association boys basketball state championship game for the second straight year last night by racing past Konawaena, 61-35, and denying a first-ever all-Big Island final.

A crowd of about 1,000 at Blaisdell Arena watched the unseeded Interscholastic League of Honolulu runner-up Buffanblu improve to 13-3 in the regular and postseason and advance to tonight's title game against unseeded Big Island Interscholastic Federation runner-up Kamehameha-Hawai'i (15-2).

Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. at Blaisdell Arena; the game also will be televised live statewide on OC16.

Konawaena, making its first-ever state semifinal appearance, fell to 15-2.

The Buffanblu led from wire to wire last night, jumping out to leads of 8-2, 13-5 and 18-7 in the first period. During one eight-minute stretch overlapping the first and second quarters, Punahou outscored Konawaena, 22-4, and the Buffanblu scored the first 14 points of the second period to lead 32-7.

"They bring the same pressure that Kamehameha brought (Thursday), but they're even bigger and more athletic," Wildcats coach Donny Awa said. "We got killed on the glass, and we were settling for jump shots instead of being aggressive to the basket."

Konawaena finally ended the scoring drought with 2:04 remaining in the half on Darryl Milana's falling, baseline five-foot jumper in a crowded lane.

Dane DeMello made a three-point play with 39 seconds left to make it 34-12, but by then Punahou clearly established control.

The Buffanblu made 13 of 24 field goals (54 percent), outrebounded Konawaena 24 to 7 (17 to 4 on the defensive boards) and made seven steals. By comparison, the Wildcats shot 5 of 24 (21 percent), including 0 for 5 from 3-point range.

"We knew we had the size (advantage) on them, and Coach (Dan Hale) said if we can control the boards, we can control the game," said Punahou junior forward Manti Te'o, who scored 12 of his game-high 16 points and grabbed four of his seven rebounds in the first two periods.

Konawaena was further hampered when forward Austonn Lazoff — who had a game-high 17 points in a semifinal victory over Kamehameha on Thursday — picked up his fourth foul with 2:18 remaining in the half.

The Wildcats cut it to 45-27 entering the fourth quarter, but that was as close as they would get. Trevor Crabb's two-handed slam dunk with 6:53 remaining was the exclamation point, making it 49-27.

"We're playing our best basketball right now," Hale said.

PUNAHOU (13-3) 18 16 11 16 — 61

KONAWAENA (15-2) 7 5 15 8 — 35

PUNAHOU — Dalton Hilliard 9, Robbie Toma 12, Matt Feldman 0, Shane Yoshiyama 2, Henry Cassiday 4, Kimo Makaula 0, Dane Okamura 1, Manti Te'o 16, Kameron Steinhoff 11, Kai Gaddis 2, Trevor Crabb 4, Casey Shibuya 0. Totals 21 16-23 61.

KONAWAENA — Marcel Awa-Williams 0, Ho'okela Liftee 4, Kali'i Kunitomo 3, Frank Ah Tou 0, Sam Unger 3, Thomas Deniz 0, Kekoa Carvalho 10, Darryl Milana 10, Daniel Royce 2, Tim Johnson 0, Tovega U'ulopa 0, Dakota Smith 0, Joshua Kalili 0, Austonn Lazoff 0, Dane DeMello 3. Totals 14 6-12 35. 3-point goals: Punahou 3 (Toma 2, Hilliard); Konawaena 1 (Unger).

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Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.