This was a team built for a championship, these Honokaa Dragons.

They were also built to make history, toppling BIIF rival Kamehameha-Hawaii 54-38 on Saturday in the final of the Hawaiian Airlines/HHSAA Division II Girls Basketball State Championships.

Hunter Liftee poured in 24 points and Chancis Fernandez added 12 for the Dragons, who beat KS-Hawaii for the fourth time this season.

"Yeah, we made history! The coaching style this year was more serious. It’s a lot stricter, too, and it helped a lot," said Liftee, 5-foot-9 senior and four-year letterman.

It took the return of coach Daphne Honma, who returned from UH Hilo before the season, and the leadership of four core seniors, for Honokaa to win its first state title in girls basketball.

"It’s about control. Coach makes us run a controlled game and keeps the intensity high," Fernandez said. "We never doubted Kamehameha-Hawaii would come out hard."

A crowd of roughly 1,100 walked through the turnstiles at Neal Blaisdell Arena to see the tripleheader, which included two D-I quarterfinal games that preceded the D-II title matchup.

Top-seeded Honokaa (16-3 overall) won the BIIF tile, then rolled through three opponents in the state tourney in Honolulu.

"I think the venue, playing in states, the pressure had the kids nervous and a little tight. It wasn’t pretty at the beginning, but they did well enough to get the job done," Honma said. "This is something they were shooting for all season long. They worked hard and they got their goal."

Kamehameha-Hawaii (14-9), the two-time defending champion, had an elite scorer and playmaker in Casey Poe, and a slashing guard in Riana Arima, but Honokaa was simply too deep and too quick with the ball.

"It’s not a secret. You have to know where Casey Poe and Riana Arima always are and contain their strengths," she said. "We play really good defense and play really good team ball. It makes the wins more meaningful because everybody’s involved."

The Dragons won with efficiency, making the extra pass at every opportunity. They also came through at the free-throw line with 71 percent accuracy (20-for-28).

Unseeded KS-Hawaii, playing its fourth game in as many nights, was 9-for-22 at the charity stripe (41 percent).

The Warriors scored on the opening tip as Casey Poe started well, and they were down only two points (10-8) entering the second quarter. But Honokaa’s tough, smart man-to-man defense was seemingly everywhere after that. Honokaa led 25-14 by halftime and the Warriors never truly threatened in the second half.

Poe finished with 19 hard-earned points while Arima tallied seven. She committed two charging fouls as the Dragons collapsed on her in the lanes.

Poe got to enjoy back-to-back state titles as a sophomore and junior. She fouled out in the fourth quarter and buried her face in a towel behind the bench, equal parts sad and furious.

"It was tough to finish and attack. We didn’t crash the boards. We just didn’t attack enough," said Poe, who plans to play at Whitman (Wash.) next season.

Now the Dragons may start a new dynasty.

HONOKAA 54, KS-HAWAII 35

WARRIORS (12-5)

DRAGONS (14-2)

Halftime — Honokaa 25, KS-Hawaii 14.
3-point goals — KS-Hawaii 0-5 (Arima 0-3, Caitlin Poe 0-1, Ramelb 0-1) Honokaa 0-2 (Ignacio 0-1, Frazier 0-1).. Steals — KS-Hawaii 13 (Casey Poe 7, Arima 3, Caitlin Poe 2, Evans-Bautista 1). Honokaa 7 (C. Fernandez 2, E. Fernandez 2, Frazier 2, Castro 1). Blocked shots — KS-Hawaii1 (Casey Poe). Honokaa 1 (E. Fernandez). Technical fouls — none. Officials — Bobby Higa, Bruce Spear, Elena Cabatu. A —1,126.

THIRD PLACE
HAWAII BAPTIST 43, MOLOKAI 27
Statistics unavailable

FIFTH PLACE
FARRINGTON 61, KALANI 55
Statistics unavailable

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Chancis Fernandez, Honokaa
Casey Poe, KS-Hawaii
Riana Arima, KS-Hawaii
Carly Kakuda, Kalani
Penina Faumui, Farrington
Most Outstanding Player: Hunter Liftee, Honokaa