It’s poise they want and it’s poise they’ve got.

The Konawaena Wildcats stuck to their basic recipe for success — a lockdown man-to-man defense — to stifle Pearl City for a 44-33 win on Thursday in quarterfinal play of the Hawaiian Airlines/HHSAA Boys Basketball State Championships.

Kenan Gaspar led a balanced Wildcats scoring attack with 14 points. Brenton Shropshire added nine while Jonah Bredeson had seven points, six boards and three steals in a solid all-around effort.

"We were a little bit tight on offense, but we played well on defense," Konawaena coach Donald Awa said. "We didn’t want to get caught up running with them. They have chemistry. They look like they live at the park. We haven’t pressed full court all year except for once when we had to come back against Waiakea. We just want to play a real intense halfcourt man (defense)."

The Wildcats hardly have a weak line in that defense and came up with 11 steals against the quick Chargers.

Guard Sonny Glisson led the Chargers with 11 points. Tyson Hickox added nine points, all in the first half.

A crowd of about 600 watched at McKinley Student Council Gymnasium. Konawaena (13-0), the No. 4 seed in the Division I tourney, zoomed to a 12-0 lead and never trailed. Pearl City (11-4) had upset Moanalua in overtime in the opening round on Wednesday, but after a long night, they had an early (5 p.m.) matchup with the BIIF champs.

"The boys were up all night, up till 2 o’clock watching the replay (on TV). But that’s not an excuse. Konawaena played a hell of a game. We’ve got to shoot the ball better," Chargers coach Lionel Villarmia said. "Konawaena’s defensive pressure is really good and again, we started slow."

Fatigue showed. The Chargers shot 4-for-23 from the field in the first half and never found a consistent flow offensively. They got within 27-20 on a 17-foot runner off the glass by Isaac Amorin with 3:30 left in the third quarter, but Konawaena never lost control or composure.

Shropshire, a 6-foot-8 center, corralled five of his nine rebounds in the quarter, and after Brandon Awa took a steal and fed Shropshire for a breakaway layup, the Wildcats had a 32-21 lead going into the final quarter.

Pearl City, which went to overtime for the 68-60 win over Moanalua, cut the lead to 32-26 on a reverse layup and a 3-point shot by Glisson.

After Glisson added a trey from the right wing, the Chargers were within 34-29 with 3:25 remaining.

Konawaena, however, went to a four-corners spread and got heady plays from guard Chase Takaki. The junior scored the next five points as the Wildcats shackled Pearl City’s long-range shooters the rest of the way, closing the game with a 6-2 run.

"Chase is very confident and strong, probably my strongest guy in the weight room," Awa said. "He and Po‘okela (Hanato-Smith) come off the bench, but they might be my best on-ball defenders."

Konawaena limited Pearl City to 24 percent from the field (11-for-46), including 4-for-15 from the arc. Pearl City shot 5-for-10 from the foul line and committed 15 turnovers.

The Wildcats had a 29-25 edge on the boards and committed 14 turnovers, but shot 14-for-22 from the free-throw line (64 percent). They shot 38 percent from the field (14-for-37), including 2-for-11 from the arc.

"We watched their game. They have strong guards," said Brandon Awa, the point guard and coach’s son.

The Wildcats are quietly confident going into the semifinal round tonight at Blaisdell Arena.

"We have more maturity and chemistry this year," Brandon Awa said.

At McKinley
PEARL CITY    (11-4)  5   10  6  12 — 33
KONAWAENA (13-0)  13  10  9  12 — 44

PEARL CITY—Isaac Amorin 6, Eric Dela Pena 0, Reymart Rosario 1, Tyson Hickox 9, Sonny Glisson 11, Daicorri Briscoe 6, Bricen Shafer 0, Tyler Canon 0, Bryson Galdeira 0.
KONAWAENA—Chase Takaki 5, Brenton Shropshire 9, Brandon Awa 3, Kenan Gaspar 14, Po‘okela Hanato-Smith 0, Trevor Tanaka 0, Kevin Medeiros 0, Nick Mims 6, Jonah Bredeson 7.
3-point goals—Pearl City 4 (Hickox 2, Glisson 2), Konawaena 2 (Awa, Gaspar).

DIVISION 1 CONSOLATION

Moanalua 67, Kapolei 55

At McKinley
MOANALUA (13-3)  12  14  16  25 — 67
KAPOLEI      (12-3)  16  12  12  15 — 55

MOANALUA—Jon Michael Sharsh 0, Ola Brown 20, Reyn Okimoto 2, Elo Badua 0, Kahanu Pu‘ulei-Auld 22, Aljohn Bumanglag 2, Jamaal Willis 5, Antoine Hines 0, Zack Pu‘ulie-Loi On 0, Justin Hudcovic 1, Wyatt Nunes 0, Eliet Donley 15, Alaziar Torres 0, Aaron Stuart 0, Karson Cruz 0.
KAPOLEI—Elia McKeague 5, Dorlen Martos 4, Curtis Tavares 6, Joshua Wills 9, Aaron Jackson 0, Christopher Dillard 4, Brailland Hearn 0, Zachary Reeves 18, Elijah Gipson 7, Micah Kapoi 2.
3-point goals—Moanalua 7 (Brown 4, Pu‘ulei-Auld 2, Willis). Kapolei 3 (Tavares 2, Wills).­