For the third straight year, half of the Hawaiian Airlines/Hawai'i High School Athletic Association Girls Basketball Championship semifinal teams are "F.B.I." — from Big Island.

Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion and No. 2 seed Konawaena advanced to its fourth straight semifinal last night by racing past Kalani, 58-46, at Stan Sheriff Center.

The Wildcats improved to 15-0 in the regular and postseason and will face Interscholastic League of Honolulu champ and No. 3 seed 'Iolani (12-2) in tonight's 6 o'clock semifinal.

BIIF runner-up Honoka'a (14-3) meets ILH runner-up Punahou (11-5) in the other semifinal at 8.

"I'm excited," said Konawaena senior forward Jazzmin Awa-Williams, who scored a game-high 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds. "What I want is an all-Big Island championship game."

The Wildcats proved they are a serious contender to return to the finals for the third time in four years. They jumped to an 18-4 lead in the first six minutes, with post Mana Hopkins scoring seven points and Awa-Williams adding six points during the run.

Liana Hanato-Smith opened the game with a 3-pointer and sister and fellow guard Kara Hanato-Smith contributed an outside jumper, giving Konawaena a nice inside-out offense.

"No doubt, they're a good, solid team," Kalani coach Darold Imanaka said. "Defensively, it seemed like we were a half-step slower than them at the beginning. But our girls battled and came back, so I'm proud of them."

Once the Falcons (13-4) got over their initial shock of being down by 14, they clawed their way back and closed to 22-17 after Chloe Martin's 3-pointer with 4:10 remaining in the half.

But two of Kalani's best players, guard Megan Kamehiro and forward Courtney Gaddis, each picked up three fouls by that point and Konawaena finished the half with an 8-2 run to lead 33-19.

"When they got into foul trouble, (the Falcons) dropped into a zone (defense), and that opened things up for our shooters," Wildcats coach Bobbie Awa said.

Kalani got as close as 46-39 after Rhianna Farm's free throw with 1:35 to play, but Konawaena swished 12 of 16 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

Reach Wes Nakama at wnakama@honoluluadvertiser.com.