PUKALANI, Maui — Before Friday night, the Moloka'i High School boys basketball team had only been to three state tournaments since 1990.

Make it four and two in a row for the Farmers now.

Moloka'i jumped out to a 15-2 lead at the end of the first quarter, upped it to as many as 27 on two occasions, and cruised to a 64-43 win over upstart Ka'ahumanu Hou in the Maui Interscholastic League Division II tournament championship game at King Kekaulike gym.

''Being in the Division II format this year it is great for the small schools,'' Moloka'i coach Lee DeRouin said to The Maui News. ''These small schools deserve the opportunity to do that and build year after year and it gives the kids that extra motivation now.''

The Farmers, who lost all five starters from last season's MIL runner-up team, are going to back-to-back state tournaments for the first time since 1989 state player of the year Jarinn Akana played there.

''The kids really stepped up and now they have something to play for,'' DeRouin said.

Moloka'i (10-2) will play Lana'i (9-2) for the third time in eight days today for the overall MIL D-II title. The regular-season champion Pine Lads were upset by fourth-seeded Ka'ahumanu Hou (5-8) 57-45 on Thursday.

Moloka'i and Lana'i have clinched the MIL's two state berths in D-II.

Micah Ritte-Manangan led the Farmers with 16 points on Friday, giving him 37 in two games in this tournament. Kaden Tabil, the Farmers' ace pitcher in baseball playing his first season of high school basketball, added 13 against the Ali'i Lions and has 31 in the tournament.

''I just feel great and as time goes by I think I am peaking more and more,'' said Ritte-Manangan, a junior point guard. ''I have to give credit to my teammates because they work hard and they push me to become a better player.''

Tabil is one of only three seniors on the roster for Moloka'i.

Tabil and Joseph Akaka, a junior forward, dominated on the boards as the Farmers built their early lead despite shooting just 4-for-18 in the first quarter. They warmed up to 7-for-10 in the second quarter and finished the game 17-for-46 as DeRouin emptied the bench in the second half.

Ka'ahumanu Hou was 15-for-55 from the field in the game and 10-for-22 at the foul line. The Ali'i Lions had 22 turnovers in the game, the Farmers 28.

''Those guys in the middle really help me as a shooter because I can get it inside to them and they can either shoot or pass it back out,'' Ritte-Manangan said. ''That opens up the lanes for me as well.''

The Farmers know they have work to do tonight at 7 when they meet the Pine Lads for the MIL crown. Lana'i won a pair of close games last weekend in Lana'i City to take the regular-season title over a Moloka'i team that came to the Pineapple Isle unbeaten in MIL play.

''I'm ready and I hope my team is ready and I hope they are ready,'' Ritte-Manangan said. ''We will just come out and play hard.''

The Farmers' win ended a rare run for the Ali'i Lions, who were playing for the third consecutive night after beating St. Anthony on Wednesday. The Ali'i Lions lose only two seniors — Johnny Bailey and Sebastian Gomez.

''The kids did a great job,'' Ka'ahumanu Hou coach Glenn Foo Sum said. ''I thought they would play a little bit better tonight, but they were a little bit nervous and we had a bad start. Moloka'i has a great team. They are tough and they work hard on the boards. I think Lana'i-Moloka'i is going to be a great matchup.

''I am real proud of my kids and we are really looking forward to next year.''

KAMEHAMEHA-MAUI 64, LAHAINALUNA 51

Jeffrey Oka does not always play a whole lot for the Kamehameha Schools Maui boys basketball team.

He did on Friday, however, and the 5-foot-7 senior point guard never came up bigger in his career for the Warriors.

Oka scored 13 points, ran the offense at a frenetic, but controlled pace, and led Kamehameha-Maui (10-4) to a 64-51 win over Lahainaluna (11-3) in the championship game of the Maui Interscholastic League Division I tournament on Friday at the King Kekaulike gym.

The result sets up a rematch between the same two teams for the overall MIL title on Thursday at 7 p.m. at King Kekaulike. It will be the fifth meeting between the two teams of the season and each has won twice so far.

Lahainaluna had already clinched a state tournament berth as the regular-season champion, but the Warriors clinched their third straight state berth with the tournament title and now have a chance to defend the MIL championship they won last season.

''We are starting to show ourselves,'' Kamehameha coach Lance Cagasan said. ''Last night (in a 62-51 win over Baldwin) was huge. We had this monkey on our back after that tight loss to Lahaina and we had a hard time recovering, but it was all mental.''

The Warriors surrendered a 16-point lead in an eventual one-point loss to the Lunas last month that started Kamehameha on a 1-3 finish to the regular season. Cagasan said that his team is back now.

''We were very hesitant when the pressure was on, but now for two games in a row, when the pressure was on, we kept on attacking,'' he said. ''They pulled through. It is great to get that monkey off our back and be able to kick that monkey to the curb. You heard us, you know what the boys want. We are the defending champions. There was no celebration. We meant what we said. We are the defending champs and we are not going to go down without a fight.''

The Kamehameha win extinguished Baldwin's hopes of a second-place playoff for a state berth between the Bears and Warriors. Instead, Thursday's game is for all the marbles and a big reason is the play of Oka, who scored in each quarter — the only Warrior to do so besides Kaiea Medeiros, who shared team-high honors with Louis Turbeville with 14.

''I am not going to lie to you, it is good to have state in hand, but we are still not finished with the MIL title,'' Cagasan said. ''That is important to us.''

Oka has been in and out of Cagasan's doghouse throughout his four-year career on the varsity and junior varsity.

''I love that kid,'' Cagasan said. ''We have been with him for four years, since he was a freshman and he has been so patient. There are a lot of things that people don't see. He comes out to play at every practice, he is a positive guy, he keeps his teammates up. He has this great way of uniting people and keeping his teammates together. It was nice to see him come through. A lot of what he was going through was all mental and tonight to see him just play, I am so happy and proud of him.

''I kept telling him, 'One day we are going to need you. Please show up.' I beg, I beg, I plead and tonight he showed up and that is awesome.''

Oka helped the Warriors burst out of the gate with 21 points in the first quarter and take a 33-23 halftime lead. The Lunas cut it to four, 39-35, on a rebound basket by Nuti Pousima with just over a minute left in the third quarter, but Oka made a free throw and Erwin DeCoite finished a three-point play with eight seconds left in the quarter to push the lead back to 43-35 going to the final stanza.

The Lunas made one more charge, closing to within 51-46 with 3:10 to play, but Oka went to the line again and made both to push the lead back to 53-46 with 2:47 to go. Lahainaluna would not get any closer and, fittingly, Oka's steal and layup in the final minute put the finishing touch on the game.

''You know, this was such a big game for all of us,'' Oka said. ''We wanted to come out hard. Everyone was so hyped for this game. It is just a 100 percent team effort, 100 percent. Coach just called my number and he needed me to step up and I tried to do the best for my team. It was a good win for our team, a great win for our team.''

The Lunas will try again Thursday to nail down their first MIL title since the second of back-to-back crowns in 2002.

''All I have got to say is it is going to be a battle,'' Lahainaluna coach Eric Balinbin said. ''We had two good battles in Lahaina, we had a good battle here, they came out on top — credit to them. The next one will be the rubber match. Two evenly matched teams. We kept trying to chip away, chip away tonight but we couldn't quite do it.''

Asked what his team would be working on in the next few practices, Balinbin smiled and said, ''I can't tell you that.''

MOLOKA'I (64)

Jose Ragasa 0 0-0 0, Herbert Antolin 1 1-3 3, Alvin Ringor 1 0-0 2, Scottie Rapanot Jr. 1 2-2 4, Kawaiola Kalipi 2 1-2 5, Julien Bumatay 0 0-0 0, Micah Ritte-Manangan 5 3-9 16, Cesar Narvarri 0 0-0 0, Jorjay Bumatay 0 1-4 1, Kaden Tabil 4 5-8 13, Eddie Delos Reyes 0 0-0 0, Keoni Kahoalii 1 3-4 5, Joseph Akaka 3 0-0 6, Kinohi Kelly-Paleka 2 3-4 7, Ryan Rappanot 1 0-0 2. 21 19-36 64.

KA'AHUMANU HOU (43)

Austin Davis 0 0-0 0, Edmond Kortum 1 1-3 4, Zack Wright 2 1-1 5, Sebastian Gomez 3 2-4 9, Pono Tanka-Sanders 1 0-2 2, Byung Jeoung 0 4-8 4, Nathan Shimodoi 1 0-0 2, Johnny Bailey 1 0-0 3, Aaron Wright 2 0-2 4, Rory Souza 4 2-2 10. Totals 15 10-22 43.

Moloka'i 15 20 14 15—64

Ka'ahumanu Hou 2 14 12 15—43

3-Point Goals—Moloka'i 3 (Ritte-Manangan 3), Ka'ahumanu Hou 3 (Kortum, Gomez, Bailey). Total Fouls—Moloka'i 17, Ka'ahumanu Hou 19. Fouled Out—Aaron Wright.

KAMEHAMEHA-MAUI (64)

Kaleo Demello 3 2-3 8, Jeff Oka 5 3-4 13, Kekoa Turbeville 5 2-2 14, Kalae Camarillo 0 0-0 0, Evan Garces 1 1-2 3, Kaiea Medeiros 5 4-6 14, Erwin DeCoite 2 1-3 5, Bryan Pali 3 1-2 7. Totals 24 14-22 64.

LAHAINALUNA (51)

Tyson Mizuno 0 0-0 0, Paul Salvador 3 2-2 10, Ty Carter 0 0-0 0, Dillon Soldwisch 0 2-2 2, Nutti Pousima 5 6-10 16, John Craig 2 3-4 7, Jayson Manning 3 2-2 8, Jake Manning 3 2-3 8. Totals 16 17-23 51.

KS-Maui 21 12 10 21—64

Lahainaluna 10 13 12 16—51

3-Point Goals—Kamehameha-Maui 2 (Turbeville 2), Lahainaluna 2 (Salvador 2). Total Fouls—Kamehameha-Maui 19, Lahainaluna 20. Fouled Out—DeCoite.

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