Makoto Kamata scored 17 points and Liko Soares added 10 off the bench as top-seeded Maryknoll stifled Kailua 47-29 on Friday night in the Division I semifinal round of the Snapple/HHSAA Boys Basketball State Championships.

ILH champion Maryknoll (29-2 overall) will meet league runner-up Punahou tonight at Stan Sheriff Center for the title. The Spartans lost to Kalaheo in the 2013 final and are 1-5 in championship games. Tony Sellitto led Maryknoll to the crown in 1984, and three Division A titles from 1978 to ’80.’

Maryknoll’s stingy defense did its work again.

In 31 games, only four times have opponents scored at least 50 points. Maryknoll limited Kailua’s dangerous offense to a semifinal record-low seven points in the first half. Coach Kelly Grant wasn’t quite impressed.

“They had 14 offensive rebounds. I’m very disappointed with that. We need to get more of those 50-50 balls,” he said.

Liko Soares had a big game in the ILH playoffs against Punahou, and his output in the state tourney is a big help in the trenches. He shot 5-for-6 from the field.

“I guess I got out of my comfort zone,” Soares said.

With Soares helping 6-foot-7 Marcus Tobin (eight points, six rebounds), Payton Grant (nine points, three steals, two blocks) and Kalai Akaka in the paint, there were few open looks for Kailua.

Everett Torres-Kahapea led OIA runner-up Kailua (20-13) with 16 points on 4-for-19 shooting from the field. He shot 8-for-10 at the free-throw line. As a team, Kailua shot 20 percent from the floor (9-for-45).

“We wanted to keep (Maryknoll) in the high 30s or low 40s and we held them to 47,” Kailua coach Walter Marciel said. “The Soares kid worked hard. He’s a good player.”

Maryknoll used man and zone defenses, and both schemes stifled Kailua, which shot 3-for-22 from the field in the first half.

With a quick start by Tobin, who had six points in the first quarter, the Spartans were in control from the opening tip.

Maryknoll led 20-7 at the half. The Spartans didn’t use any extraordinary twist defensively to slow Torres-Kahapea, who had just two points on 1-for-9 shooting by intermission.

After Kamata scored on a three-point play to open the second half, Maryknoll had its largest lead, 23-7.

Kailua’s offense came alive, but Maryknoll was still able to extend the lead to 30-13 after a layup by Soares.

Torres-Kahapea scored eight points in the first five minutes of the third quarter to bring the Surfriders within 13 points of the Spartans.

Kailua couldn’t crack the code, staying in a double-digit deficit. Torres-Kahapea sank two foul shots after a technical foul was assessed on Soares after a jump ball on the floor, cutting the lead to 38-26 with 4:26 remaining.

Kailua got no closer the rest of the way.