Making its girls basketball state tournament debut, Kapolei held off Baldwin, 37-35, last night in the opening round of the Hawaiian Airlines State Championships.

The Hurricanes, who finished third in the O'ahu Interscholastic Association, improved to 12-5 in the regular and postseason and will face defending state champ Konawaena (10-0) of the Big Island Interscholastic Federation in today's 5 p.m. quarterfinal.

The game will be televised live statewide on OC16 from McKinley's Student Council Gym.

"This is our (program's) first time in the state tournament, so to make it past the first round, I'm ecstatic," said Kapolei senior Leilani Tauani-Fifita, a 6-foot-2 post who finished with a team-high 12 points. "This puts us on a high going into tomorrow."

Tauani-Fifita scored all seven of her team's points in the first period but picked up her third foul 21 seconds before halftime, at which point the Hurricanes led, 16-13.

She sat out most of the third quarter, when the Maui Interscholastic League runner-up Bears (9-6) used an 11-0 run to turn a 25-15 deficit into a 26-25 lead after Malia Chang's layup with 1:48 remaining. But Tauani-Fifita re-entered the game and later scored a layup to put Kapolei ahead, 29-26, heading into the fourth.

KAPOLEI (12-5) 7 9 13 8—37

BALDWIN (8-6) 8 5 13 9—35

KAPOLEI — Krystal Jacobs 11, Kaity Wills 6, Rhilee Soriano 0, Diamond Carter 2, Kawehi Hagi 4, Vanessa Banogan 0, Leilani Tauani-Fifita 12, Paige Kaea 2. Totals 12 12-20 37.

BALDWIN — Ariana Newton 9, Tasha Buika 3, Samantha Agunong 2, Malia Chang 13, Christine Co 6, Jennifer Alakai 0, Jessica Malknecht 2, Dezarae Kodama 0, Laurie Ai 0, Kristina Egdamin 0. Totals 1 8-11 35.

3-point goals — Kapolei 1 (Wills). Baldwin 1 (Chang).

'IOLANI 51, PEARL CITY 46

Lori Yamashita scored 13 points and Lahela Usui added 12 points as the Interscholastic League of Honolulu runner-up Raiders (12-3) advanced to tonight's 7 o'clock quarterfinal against No. 4 seed and OIA champion Farrington (15-1) at McKinley.

Pearl City (13-4, OIA fourth place) jumped to a 4-0 lead, but Yamashita answered with a 3-pointer and Kaitlyn Shikada banked in another 3 to break an 8-8 tie. Yamashita then hit another 3-pointer to put 'Iolani ahead 14-8 after the first period.

The Raiders opened the lead to 28-19 by halftime and led 37-27 entering the fourth.

PEARL CITY (13-4) 8 11 8 19—46

'IOLANI (12-3) 4 14 9 14—51

PEARL CITY — Adrienne Jean Sylva 1, Sabrina Angle 6, Shanice Gabriel-Yones 0, Victoria Victor 0, Glacen Florita 9, Shawna Angle 0, Jordan Ahakuelo 18, Alana Kaili 6, Markeshia Manning 6, Tearaina Meyer 0. Totals 16 11-20 46.

'IOLANI — Saphyre Rezentes 3, Kryn Masutani 3, Kylie Rae Maeda 8, Lori Yamashita 13, Georgette Lopes-Liutolo 2, Kaitlyn Shikada 4, Lahela Usui 12, Shauni Watanabe 0, Alex Masaquel 4, Brittany Barnes 0, Taimane Passi 2. Totals 16 12-17 51.

3-point goals — Pearl City 3 (Florita 2, Ahakuelo). 'Iolani 7 (Yamashita 3, Maeda 2, Shikida, Masutani).

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