La Pietra is a small all-girls school living a big-time hoops dream.

Megan Berardy hit a 12-foot jumper from the right baseline with 21 seconds remaining for La Pietra's first lead of the game and the Lady Panthers held Punahou scoreless in the fourth period of a 39-37 victory at Hanalani Schools in Mililani.

"It was open and it just kind of came natural. I wasn't thinking," Berardy said.

The victory gave La Pietra (12-1) the Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division II title and its first state tournament berth.

"I don't know what to think, this has never happened before," La Pietra coach Anthony Czaja said.

Berardy received the ball on the right wing and dribbled to the baseline and calmly hit the shot, which gave La Pietra a 38-37 lead.

"It's a fitting end to her senior season," Czaja said. "We've been waiting for her to step up. If it was going to be anyone, let it be her. She came through for us."

Punahou missed two point-blank shots on its final possession and La Pietra's Courtney Gaddis, who finished with 10 points, was fouled after grabbing a rebound with 3.6 seconds left.

She made the first of two free-throw attempts, but teammate Tihon Nguyen grabbed the rebound and dribbled out the clock.

Punahou (11-2) entered the fourth period with a 37-32 lead and tried unsuccessfully to run time off the clock.

It ran a motion offense with a lot of perimeter passing and switched to a weave midway through the period. On defense it switched from a man-to-man to a 2-3 zone.

The Buffanblu went 0 of 6 from the field, committed four turnovers and missed all eight free-throw attempts in the fourth period, including the front ends of two one-and-ones.

"It's not so much we lost our rhythm," Punahou coach Kevin Velasco said. "They played tough 'D' and we missed our free throws down the stretch."

The Lady Panthers got field goals from Ashanti Shih with 4:45 remaining and Berardy with 2:43 left to cut the deficit to 37-36.

"I knew from the beginning if we were down, we could come back like that," said Berardy, while snapping her finger.

Things didn't start out well for La Pietra as Punahou took a 19-7 lead after the first period behind a full-court press.

The Lady Panthers committed eight turnovers in the first period, but only nine the rest of the way.

La Pietra tied the score at 24 on a putback by Gaddis two minutes into the third quarter, but the Buffanblu responded with an 11-2 run to go up 35-26 with 1:35 left in the third.

Punahou didn't make a field goal over the final 9:30.

Aubrie Lau scored seven points for Punahou, which advanced to yesterday's title game by beating St. Francis on Friday night.

Reach Kyle Sakamoto at ksakamoto@honoluluadvertiser. com or 525-8041.

PUNAHOU (11-2) 19 5 13 0—37

LA PIETRA (12-1) 7 13 12 7—39

PUNAHOU—Megan Akamine 6, Aubrie Lau 7, Carly Wachi 6, Taila Autele 4, Kaliko Fernandez 0, Sarah Aratani 0, Erin Moon 2, Kelsie Gomes 3, Fransina Savusa 0, Jessica Letoto 0, Pomai Stone 0, Yuree Nam 4, Brooke Ehrman 0, Arielle Daniels 5. Totals 14 7-30 37.

LA PIETRA—Sarah Peoples 0, Charity Caracol 2, Courtney Gaddis 10, Megan Giles 6, Christen Hirai 0, Leah Kaina 1, Jasmine Kimura 4, Tihon Nguyen 0, Ashanti Shih 8, Megan Berardy 8. Totals 17 5-22 39. 3-point goals—Punahou 2 (Lau, Gomes). La Pietra none.

Reported by Karen Inafuku

Reach Kyle Sakamoto at ksakamoto@honoluluadvertiser.com.