After taking one step back and three steps forward, Farrington is finally in position to win the O'ahu Interscholastic Association girls basketball championship.

Brydgette Tatupu-Leopoldo scored a game-high 29 points and Kirsten Liana added 17 points last night as the Governors held off Kalani, 80-72, in OIA Red Conference playoff semifinal action.

A crowd of about 400 at McKinley's Student Council Gym watched Farrington — ranked No. 3 in The Advertiser's statewide Top 10 poll of coaches and media — improve to 16-1 in league play and advance to tonight's Red final against No. 5 Roosevelt (11-5).

Tipoff is set for about 7 p.m. at McKinley, following the White final between Kaimuki (13-3) and No. 10 Kahuku (13-1) at 5.

Both games will be televised live statewide on OC16.

Roosevelt, which stunned Farrington 62-60 in last week's third round, is unbeaten in the tournament's double-elimination format and can win the championship with a victory tonight. If the Govs win, there will be a winner-take-all title game Saturday at McKinley.

"After that loss, we came back strong and now we have another chance, and I'm happy for that," said Tatupu-Leopoldo, a 5-foot-9 sophomore wing. "I think we deserve it, because we had to do it from the backroads."

Farrington defeated Moanalua on Saturday and Kailua on Tuesday before last night's fast-and-furious matchup with Kalani (9-8). The teams combined for 12 3-pointers in the first half, which ended with Lucky Cichton's layup at the buzzer putting the Govs up, 42-41.

Tatupu-Leopoldo drained a 3-pointer with 18 seconds remaining in the third quarter to give Farrington a 60-56 lead heading into the fourth.

The Govs extended the lead to 68-61 after another 3-pointer by Tatupu-Leopoldo with 3:24 remaining, but they missed nine free throws in the final three minutes, allowing the Falcons to stay close.

Corie Kuia's free throw cut it to 72-68 with one minute left, but Farrington was able to sink five free throws in a span of two seconds thanks to two fouls and a technical on Kalani for illegal substitution (six girls on the court) with 0:47.5 remaining.

That made the score 77-68, and the Falcons could get no closer than seven points after that.

Hikaru Kumagai led Kalani with 17 points, Kuia added 15 points, Ashlyn Onaga contributed 14 points, four steals and four assists and Violet Alama had 12 points and seven rebounds.

Jamie Higa also had 14 points for the Falcons — all in the first half. She and Kuia combined for 27 points in the first two periods.

Alama picked up her fourth foul with 2:59 left in the third quarter and fouled out with 1:38 remaining in the fourth.

Natalie Mata added 13 points for the Govs, including 9 of 10 free throws.

KALANI (9-8) 20 21 15 16 — 72

FARRINGTON (16-1) 19 23 18 20 — 80

KALANI — Kelsie Maslanka 0, Corie Kuia 15, Ashlyn Onaga 14, Kiera Iinuma 0, Cristine Sasano 0, Kristi Belshe 0, Hikaru Kumagai 17, Jamie Higa 14, Tiare Ma'afala 0, Violet Alama 12. Totals 22 20-24 72.

FARRINGTON — Kirsten Liana 17, Lusina Otineru 10, Brydgette Tatupu-Leopoldo 29, Precious Ma'ave 3, Natalie Mata 13, Lucky Crichton 2, Sofia Folaumahina 6, Janell Nance 0, Macilee Moi 0. Totals 28 17-30 80.

3-point goals: Kalani 8 (Higa 4, Kumagai 3, Kuia). Farrington 7 (Tatupu-Leopoldo 5, Liana 2).

OIA WHITE

KAIMUKI 48, KAISER 41

Olivia Phommachanh scored 13 points and Dejah Fa'asoa added 12 points as the Bulldogs advanced to today's White Conference title game against Kahuku.

Keely Bitanga led the Cougars with 14 points and Chelsy Okuma added 11.

KAISER (11-6) 8 5 14 14 — 41

KAIMUKI (13-3) 8 9 17 14 — 48

KAISER — Krysta Yasui 6, Haley Durham 0, Lijah Bowerman 4, Chelsy Okuma 11, Keely Bitanga 14, Bailey Miller 2, Daryn Vorderbruegge 3, Shelby Pa 1, Tiana Miyashiro 0, Kiana Nakai 0, Katie Nakano 0, Celeste Tsutahara 0. Totals 11 17-32 41.

KAIMUKI — Olivia Phommachanh 13, Pua Akaka 5, Sasha Tokuda 0, Brooke Borce 0, Tanya Villanueva 4, Dinishah Fa'asoa 2, Justell Arthur 0, Nikki Chipen-Ii 0, Letisha Fa'asoa 1, Dejah Fa'asoa 12, Mikki Morihara 0, Leti Mikaele 2, Ashley Fortson 7, Lani Mikaele 2, Kiana Paez 0. Totals 15 16-34 48. 3-point goals: Kaiser 2 (Bitanga 2). Kaimuki 2 (Akaka, Dejah Fa'asoa).

Reported by Simon Bitanga

Read his blog on high school sports at http://preptalk.honadvblogs.com