Hawaii Prep is a better free-throw shooting team than McKinley. But the Tigers are better at everything else.

The Tigers gave up 14 points from the line, but executed every other part of the game well to beat second-seeded Hawaii Prep

40-38 on Friday night and advance to the Division II title game of the Hawaiian Airlines/HHSAA Boys Basketball State Championships at Farrington.

“We’ve been a horrible free-throw-shooting team all year,” McKinley coach Bob Morikuni said. “We hung on, we made stops, but again the free-throw shooting almost killed us again. We did just enough and are happy to be moving on.”

McKinley (13-6) moves on to play top seed Kalaheo, which beat Seabury Hall in the second semifinal. The championship game is set for 5 p.m. today at Blaisdell Arena.

AJ Ortaleza led the Tigers with 12 points, 10 of them in the first half when Ka Makani alternated defenses to try to shut down Alex Ironside. Ironside was held to a single field goal in the first half, but McKinley went into the break with a 25-17 lead thanks to Ortaleza.

“They were giving me every open opportunity,” Ortaleza said. “I wanted to take advantage of it and got to the basket.”

Ortaleza’s night almost unraveled in the final minute when he was fouled three times and each time missed the front end of a 1-and-1. The Tigers were 1-for-8 from the line, while Ka Makani went 15-for-20.

“We got that cushion and my worst nightmare almost came true,” Morikuni said. “HPA battled back, they shoot the ball well. I just hope our free-throw shooting comes back tomorrow.”

Ka Makani took advantage to cut the lead from five points to two on a putback by Dakota Berman with 7 seconds left. Ortaleza went to the line with 3.5 seconds left and missed for the third time, but when Hawaii Prep’s Tyler Van Kirk corralled the rebound, Ironside snuck up behind him and stole it to let the final ticks bleed off the clock.

“Usually I make all of my free throws,” Ortaleza said. “Recently I just hurt my ankle, I guess I am a little rusty. I’ve got to get back into it.”

McKinley led from the middle of the second quarter on, running its margin as high as 11 points and surviving when Hawaii Prep got hot. Berman led Ka Makani with 19 points, but only four players got on the board for Hawaii Prep. Jovan Crnic scored eight points without a field goal. Hawaii Prep was 10-for-34 from the field, while the efficient Tigers were 18-for-39.

The Mustangs escaped with a win over the Spartans and will meet McKinley in today’s championship.

“They know us; we know them,” Kalaheo coach Alika Smith said. “They deserve to be there; we deserve to be there. And it is for all the marbles now. Those first four don’t mean anything now.”

For the record, Kalaheo (17-2) has won three of the four meetings between the two this year, with the Tigers exceeding 35 points only once. That was Kalaheo’s only loss to McKinley.

Kalaheo’s defense had Seabury Hall (7-1) stifled for three quarters, running up a 28-16 lead with 7:32 left in the game.

Then Seabury Hall struck. The Spartans scored more points (20) in the fourth quarter than they had in the previous three combined (16), behind Shane Jacob and Jake Golm, who combined to outscore Kalaheo by themselves in the final 8 minutes.

Matthew Nuumanaia scored 24 points as the Saints held off the Cowboys in the second half.

Kohala was led by Christopher Roxburgh’s game-high 27 points.

St. Francis plays Hanalani in the consolation final today.

Christian Peterson had 21 points and 17 rebounds, and Kainoa Souza-Chaves added 20 points as the Royals beat the Warriors.
Souza-Chaves, who scored four points in the 4-minute extra session, tied it at 64-64 with a 3-pointer from the left wing with 54 seconds left in regulation.
Prior to that, Kapaa went on a 23-9 run to take a three-point lead.