Twin towers Chance Kalaugher and Matt Haili combined for 29 points and 22 rebounds as Kaiser withstood an amazing Kalani comeback for a 54-49 win and the OIA White Conference championship on Thursday night.

A boisterous gathering of about 800 watched at McKinley’s gym. Kaiser (14-11 overall, 8-6 OIA), guided by first-year head coach Branden Kawazoe, got a big boost from its bench after Kalaugher and Haili sat for long stretches in the second half with foul trouble.

Freshman Isaac Slade-Matautia was especially effective, scoring six points in the fourth quarter and providing a defensive spark. He was matched up with Kalani’s explosive scoring guard, Cory Mitchell, for most of the night. Mitchell finished with nine points, all in the second quarter.

Both teams had already sealed berths in the upcoming Hawaiian Airlines/HHSAA Division II Boys Basketball State Championships.

Kaiser overcame the Falcons with defense, learning well from a 51-49 loss to Kalani during the regular season. The Cougars were just 11-for-31 from the foul line that night and were 12-for-31 in Thursday’s title game.

The 6-foot-5 Kalaugher had 16 points and 13 boards while Haili, at 6-4, tallied 13 points and nine rebounds. Kalaugher was the first in foul trouble and sat for much of the second half.

Haili anchored the Cougars in the paint in the meantime.

"Matt’s confidence has been growing with each game," Kawazoe said.

Jaron Yamauchi led Kalani (10-15, 6-7) with 12 points. Brandon Roberts added 11 points but was just 3-for-14 from the field. Ace Faumui added six points and 10 boards.

"Losing this hurts, but all we can do is shake this off and come back for states," Yamauchi said. "We’ve got to get back to playing up tempo and wreaking havoc on defense. We got this far because of the whole team."

Coach Nathan Davis was proud of his team’s comeback. The Falcons trailed 21-4 before rallying to take a 31-29 lead on a Roberts’ trey with 5:20 left in the third quarter.

"We’ve been in a lot of those situations before. We had to weather their storm," he said.

Kaiser regained the lead, 34-33, on a drive to the bucket for a three-point play by Kalaugher, and never trailed again.

The Cougars extended the lead to 50-38, but Kalani made one last run.

Faumui scored back-to-back baskets, including one on a steal, to bring Kalani within 53-49 with 24 seconds left.

Kalani, which had success attacking the basket during its second-quarter comeback, managed to draw just three fouls from Kaiser in the second half.

"Kaiser is a good team and they’re well-coached," Davis said. "They were able to get the ball to the guys they needed."

At McKinley gym

KAISER—Kelsey Lewis II 7, Melvin Kahunanui Jr. 4, Nicolas Tom 4, Isaac Slade-Matautia 6, Trevin Kahuanui 4, Chance Kalaugher 16, Matt Haili 13, Marcus Mafi 0.

KALANI—Jeremy Robinson 0, Dallas Asuncion 4, Shane Ra 2, Jaron Yamauchi 12, Alexander Tungpalan 3, Cory Mitchell 9, Blaise Manabe 2, Brandon Roberts 11, David Faletoi 0, Juwan Bohannon 0, Ace Faumui 6.

3-point goals—Kaiser none, Kalani 4 (Roberts 3, Tungpalan).

ILH BOYS DIVISION II

UNIVERSITY 42, HANALANI 40

Anthony Canencia scored 12 points as the Junior ‘Bows ended the Royals’ postseason run.

Jeff Schaake and Niko Milone had 11 points each for Hanalani in the loss.

University will face the Big Island Interscholastic Federation’s third-place team for a berth to the Division II state tournament.

At Klum Gym

HANALANI—Jeff Schaake 11, Niko Milone 11, John Brady 7, Zane Pantil 6, Jesse Tory 2, Josh Rotz 2, Colby Schoniwitz 1, Kenan Cooper 0, Tyler Cruz 0, Gabe Cabo 0, Conner Kaneshiro 0, Chas Kubo 0, Logan Oyama 0, Patrick Metts 0, Kai Saruwatari 0,

UNIVERSITY—Anthony Canencia 12, Eric Leung 9, Joshua Akamine 7, Ryan Hobus 6, Micah Kahumoku 6, Shaun Mahiko 2, Frank Hobus 0, Milton Monico 0, Micah Agcaoili 0, Tyler Yoshinaga 0, Kapena Fitzgerald 0,

3-point goals—Hanalani 1 (Schaake). University 2 (Leung, Joshua Akamine).

ILH BOYS DIVISION I-AA

PUNAHOU II 36, ‘IOLANI II 33

Zachary Chong scored 11 points and Kainoa McCauley had eight as the Buffanblu defeated the Raiders to capture the ILH division I-AA championship.

‘Iolani’s Preston Kamada led all scorers with 15 points.

At Punahou gym

‘IOLANI II—Bryce Tsuruda 2, Lopaka Lee 0, Danny Tan 0, Kevin Togami 2, Marc Ma 6, Jordan Genovia 0, Jackson Sealy 0, Jase Kugiya 1, Cameron Pudiquet 0, Preston Kamada 15, Kameron Ho-Ching 7

PUNAHOU II—Joe Augafa 2, Zachary Chong 11, Brayden Matsuzaki 2, Sam Hironaka 0, Eleu Akimseu 0, Hari Annamalai 1, Saitui Moea’i 2, Kainoa McCauley 8, Brian Piper 4, Alec Henderson 4, Jessie Torres 2.

3-point goals—‘Iolani II none. Punahou II 2 (Chong 2).