Wyatt Tau is enjoying the way his team keeps surprising all doubters.

The Campbell coach saw his team open a 17-point lead before holding on for a 58-53 win over fourth-seeded Konawaena in quarterfinal play of the Hawaiian Airlines/HHSAA Division I Boys Basketball State Championships.

"A lot of people didn’t expect us to get this far. Main thing, we got the win. That’s what we wanted. Now we go back and figure out what we did wrong," Tau said. "I’m proud of these guys."

A sweaty crowd of about 500 at McKinley Student Council Gymnasium saw the Sabers stymie the BIIF champions by using a 1-2-2 zone. The Sabers got steady play all around, including 14 points from slashing guard Gilbert Dayanan and 10 from center Lamont Dudley.

"When we saw (Konawaena) against Mililani in preseason, they were just running against Mililani," Tau said. "Mililani tried to play man, but they couldn’t keep up with Kona. Our guys can keep up, but I didn’t want it to become a track meet. I wanted to control the pace."

Brandon Awa scored 25 to lead Konawaena, which rallied in the fourth quarter with Awa consistently driving into the meat of Campbell’s zone and drawing fouls. Awa, a 5-foot-11 senior, scored 14 in the final quarter to spark a 17-7 run. That brought the ‘Cats within 54-47 with 1:26 to play.

But Campbell answered at the free-throw line. Dayanan hit three foul shots as the Sabers stretched the lead to 10.

A steal and layup by Chase Takaki cut it to 57-51 with 8.7 seconds remaining, but Campbell’s Michael Merchant put the game away a second later with a free throw.

"They forced us into a lot of turnovers," Tau said of Konawaena’s late-game fullcourt press. "But I’m just happy for our guys."

The game went back and forth in the first quarter with five lead changes, but the Sabers’ zone did a number on the Wildcats, who don’t have a low-post scorer. Over the span of more than a quarter, Campbell went on a 30-12 run.

CAMPBELL–Jomar Gapusan 2, Isaac Hurd 8, Joshua Forte 0, Gilbert Dayanan 14, Melvin Bergado 2, Michael Merchant 7, Jayce Bantolina 6, Lamart Dudley 10, Kainoa Perry 1, Alex Layi 8.

KONAWAENA–Pookela Hanato-Smith 7, Brandon Awa 25, Chase Takaki 9, Zane Gray 0, Jonah Bredeson 7, Reyson Ching 0, Tanner Gray 0, Kevin Mederios 5, Cameron Howes 0.

3-point goals–Campbell 6 (Hurd 2, Dayanan 2, Merchant, Layi), Konawaena 4 (Hanato-Smith, Awa, Takaki, Mederios).

‘Iolani 54, Lahainaluna 32

Zach Buscher scored 15 points as the top-seeded Raiders routed the MIL’s runner-up squad. Ikaika Phillip added nine points and Robbie Mann came off the bench to score 12 points (5-for-7 from the field).

"Same story. We did a good job controlling tempo. We stayed in front of them and made them shoot difficult shots, kept them off the boards," ‘Iolani coach Dean Shimamoto said. "It’s not pretty, but it’s effective."

The Raiders had the edge on the glass, 26-21, and blocked six shots, including two by Buscher and two more by 6-9 freshman Hugh Hogland. ‘Iolani also shot an astounding 60 percent from the field (18-for-30).

‘Iolani jumped to a 15-5 lead after one quarter and never looked back. The Raiders limited the Lunas to 26 percent shooting from the field. Buscher was a lockdown defender, holding long-range bomber Calvin Chapital to 1-for-10 shooting.

The Raiders’ defensive pressure resulted in early steals and buckets. Trailing early, the Lunas went away from their three-bigs offense.

"They didn’t do that, or one of them would’ve had to guard Ikaika (Phillip) or Buscher," Shimamoto said.

Jose Madera, a 6-5 junior, led the Lunas with nine points on 2-for-9 shooting and Peni Taufa added eight points and nine rebounds. Cyrus Kama was held to six points and played just 18 minutes.

It was a stark contrast to the Lunas’ physical dominance in an opening-round win over a depleted Kalaheo lineup.

"We’re a lot bigger than Kalaheo is, so we wanted to be as physical with them as they would be physical against us," Shimamoto said.

Now the ILH champs will take on OIA runner-up Campbell.

"Those guys know how to play. They can put it in the hole. They’ve got basketball IQ and they’re gamers. They’re athletes," Shimamoto added. "We’re going to play our brand of basketball."

LAHAINALUNA–Nicolas Vierra 0, Marvin Sidon 2, Calvin Chapital 4, Penisimani Taufa 8, Jose Madera 9, Brandon Agapay 3, Joshua Corpuz 0, Kalalani Kaaikala 0, Lauren Corpuz 0, Cyrus Kama 6, Willem Thorebeck 0.

‘IOLANI–Ikaika Phillip 9, Chris Gallacher 6, Erik Yamada 3, Zach Buscher 15, Hugh Hogland 4, John Lee 0, Zach Gelacio 5, Bryson Hamada 0, Kamu Borden 0, Robbie Mann 12.

3-point goals–Lahainaluna 2 (Chapital, Agapay). ‘Iolani 2 (Buscher 2).

CONSOLATION

Kalaheo 41, Leilehua 38

KALAHEO–Kekai Smith 15, Dario Del Castillo 8, LaDara Barnes Jr. 7, Alexander Macleod 5, Micah Koyama-Holeso 3, Abel Kanehe 2, Zachary Marrotte 1, Andrew Hernandez 0, Christian Graham 0.

LEILEHUA–Chanse Ramirez 11, Torenzo Vereen 7, Kainoa Aleviado 5, Bryan Mason 5, Kevin Brown 4, Anterrio Gainwell 3, Trevor Williams 2, Diego Aguirresaenz 1, Jarron Kim-Raguirag 0, Joseph Gouty 0, Elijah Calzo 0, Koa Kauhi 0, Dyllan Amond 0, Pomai Cozo 0, Epeli Natoko 0.

3-point goals–Kalaheo 2 (Macleod, Koyama-Holeso. Leilehua 2 (Ramirez, Gainwell).