The third time will be the charm for McKinley or Kalaheo.

Eighth-ranked Kalaheo did just enough down the stretch to pull away for a 38-34 win over McKinley Thursday night to force a winner-take-all game Saturday for the Oahu Interscholastic Association White Conference (Division II) boys basketball crown.

A crowd of about 400 watched at Jim Alegre Gymnasium. Saturday’s game will be played again at the Radford High facility.

Shem Sukumaran came through with 11 points, including three treys, and Josh Ko tallied 13 points (two treys) for Kalaheo (35-6, 13-1 OIA).

It wasn’t an easy win for Kalaheo, which got plenty of tongue-lashing from coach Alika Smith in the first three quarters.

“Coach said we have to keep playing through, play our game,” said Sukumaran, a 6-3 junior. “Just control the ball.”

Kalaheo didn’t run any flex because McKinley stayed in its 2-3 matchup zone until the final 2 minutes. The Mustangs shot 35 percent from the field (12-for-34).

Nainoa Frank added nine points and eight rebounds, and Jordyn Reindollar corralled seven boards to help Kalaheo gain a 24-21 edge on the glass.

“We battled. We just need 32 minutes of effort. Maybe more,” McKinley coach Bob Morikuni said. “We need to remember that every possession is valuable against a team as good as Kalaheo. We had that flurry in the second half and just kept giving it back to them.”

The Tigers rallied with an 8-0 run for a 28-27 lead on Jared Malaga’s putback late in the third quarter. Kalaheo regained the lead early in the fourth with three points by Frank, a 6-foot-6 junior.

From there, turnovers plagued the Tigers, who had more giveaways (five) than shot attempts (four) in the final 8 minutes. Kalaheo got a high-post jumper from Ko, and after Sukumaran hit two foul shots with 30.9 seconds left, the lead was 37-31.

Sukumaran’s foul shot for a seven-point lead iced it with 14.7 seconds left.

The Mustangs lost to the Tigers at home five days earlier for their first loss in the double-elimination tournament. Three Mustangs fouled out in that battle, but none got disqualified Thursday as they applied a tight man-to-man defense.

Alex Ironside led McKinley (21-7, 11-4) with nine hard-earned points. He was smothered by defenders all night, primarily Derick Morgan, and shot 2-for-8 from the floor. The Tigers shot 39 percent (12-for-31) from the field, including 2-for-10 from long range. They also shot just 53 percent at the foul line (8-for-15).

Kalaheo shot 69 percent from the line (9-for-13).