Kya Kanoho scored a game-high 14 points, but it was her play on the defensive side of the ball that helped seal No. 8 Kamehameha’s 44-39 win over No. 2 Maryknoll on Wednesday in the ILH tournament final at Maryknoll gym.

“That’s our senior,” Kamehameha coach Pua Straight said. “I think she’s one of the best perimeter defenders in the state, so not surprised.”

Kanoho — the only senior on the Warriors’ squad — blocked a 3-point shot by Maryknoll’s Dylan Neves with seven seconds remaining that could have tied the game at 42. Instead, Kamehameha (12-9 overall) took possession of the ball and Makenzie Alapai made both of her free throws with four seconds remaining to put the game out of reach.

“She’s a really good shooter so my focus was on her because I know that she can hit shots like that,” Kanoho said. “My goal was to just not let her shoot because if she shot, the game would have been closer.”

Kamehameha clinched the final state tournament berth for the ILH with its win over the Spartans in what was the third game in as many nights for both teams. The Warriors will play at ‘Iolani at 6 tonight for the ILH league championship.

“In the ILH, any one of these teams could have gone to the state tournament — I don’t care what their record was — and have a good output in the state tournament,” Straight said. “The ILH is like a bloodbath trying to get into the state tournament.”

Taimane Faleafine-Auwae scored a team-high 13 points for Maryknoll (21-5 overall) and Ciera Tuade-Agasiva added 11 points.

Maryknoll held a 32-29 lead heading into the fourth quarter before a layup by Nihoa Dunn and a pair of free throws made by Kanoho trimmed the Spartans’ lead to one point. After a Maryknoll free throw, Alapai made a 3-pointer with 3:52 to play that gave Kamehameha a 36-35 lead.

“We had spots where we’re up three or five, trying to get that one stop and they had a big 3, we turned the ball over,” Maryknoll coach Chico Furtado said. “It’s just one of those grind out games that at the end, we just didn’t have enough.”

Dunn sat on the bench for much of the game with foul trouble, but the Kamehameha freshman scored all eight of her points in the fourth quarter and made all four of her free throw attempts in the final minute to keep the Warriors ahead by three points.

“I had zero points on the board, so I just had to push through,” Dunn said. “I pushed through when it counted.”

“We’re a really young, unexperienced team, but during all these games, it took heart to see who wants to move on,” Kanoho said. “We’re all skilled players — we’re still new to each other — but our practice and coaching really paid off.”