KAILUA — In a riveting Blue Moon Men's Night Doubles final that came down to a handful of points — not years, quickness, craftiness or velocity — Dennis Lajola and Ikaika Jobe brought Hawai'i's most coveted tennis championship back to Hawai'i last night. They left Mikael Maatta and Jan Axel Tribler, playing better than ever in their 30s, in second for the fourth straight year.

The runners-up, former Hawai'i Pacific All-Americans from Europe now toiling as financial advisors downtown, put on their best show in a long history of success — and near-misses — at this tournament. In front of the usual packed Kailua Racquet Club house, Lajola and Jobe dropped the first set, drop-kicked their first opportunity to serve the match out, then dominated the decisive tiebreaker in a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) victory.

It is only the seventh time since 1987 that a homegrown team won the title, and the first since Jobe won it with Bradley Lum-Tucker in 2004. Not that the KRC crowd hasn't adopted the amiable Tribler and Maatta, who trained for their annual tournament by taking up squash, and losing a combined 27 pounds in the process.

Maatta was all but flawless early, missing just two lobs in the opening set and carving winners at ridiculous angles past the flailing Lajola and Jobe. He and Tribler broke Lajola's serve in the fifth game. The University of Hawai'i's No. 1 player, who won a Pro Circuit event two years ago, was playing with his assistant coach, a guy that played his last pro circuit match less than a year ago. Yet they never even had a break point against the 30-somethings in the opening set.

It was over in 25 minutes. It was even half an hour later.

Lajola, who grew up in 'Aiea but spent his high school years at tennis academies and playing all over the world, shifted his remarkable game to the next gear. Fist pumping and screaming, he and the ball-punishing Jobe won 13 of 16 points in the middle of the second set.

The four most important came on Tribler's serve. When he couldn't get a first serve in, Jobe and Lajola teed off and ripped to a 4-1 advantage.

"The best thing about those guys," Maatta said, "is that they don't think too much. At 6-all they play the same as any other time. It can be bad sometimes, but they don't get tight at all."

The HPU alums did not go peacefully into the Windward night. With Jobe serving for the set they got to break point twice and forced him to serve 14 points before the second set was over.

"I knew these guys were going to be tough," said Jobe, 26, a two-time state high school champion in his Punahou days. "They are tough every year. They're probably the hardest guys I've ever played against game-style wise. They make returns all the time."

In the final set, Tribler and Maatta were down a break again, but this time they broke back. Returning to flawless form and applying non-stop pressure, they won 12 of 13 points at one stage, breaking Jobe easily as he served for the match and powering ahead 6-5.

Lajola held serve to force the tiebreaker and on the first point Jobe lobbed a return and Maatta — "a little undecisive" — meekly pushed his overhead into the net. He shook his head, dropped to the ground and pretended to do pushups, but even the comedy couldn't break Jobe and Lajola's focus. They won both points on Jobe's serve to go up 3-0 and Maatta and Tribler could not catch them.

"I want to thank Ikaika and Dennis for not making us look like fools," Maatta said as he and Tribler received $1,000 checks for second, again (the winning team won $3,000, but as an amateur Lajola could not accept his).

Those that watched knew better and Tribler was more accurate, and serious, when he said the only difference "was a few points here and there."

This was one of the most compelling finals in a tournament that turns 40 next year and has seen more than its share of great tennis. Lajola, who hasn't lost a local tournament since he was 12, was warmly appreciative of his opponents' persistence and the passion of the crowd, comparing it favorably to those that watched him at grand slam junior events.

In the third-place match, top-seeded Minh Le and Wei Yu Su, who won here the last three years but fell to Lajola and Jobe Friday, defeated fourth-seeded Michael Bruggemann and Erich Chen, 8-2.

Bruggemann donated his check to the Mike MacKinnon fund. Chen was awarded the Peter Isaak Sportsmanship Award. Lajola earned the inaugural Sam Caldwell Amateur Award for being the amateur who advanced the farthest.