Defending champion and second-seeded Kamehameha-Hawai'i went long distance to hold off Castle, 54-42, yesterday in a quarterfinal of the Hawaiian Airlines/HHSAA Division II Girls Basketball State Championships at McKinley.

The Warriors (11-3) sank seven 3-pointers, six in the first half, and held double-digit leads most of the game.

Leilani Galdones led the way with 19 points, and Jamie Mattos and Lisa Yang each chipped in 14. Galdones had three 3-pointers and Yang had four.

"We're a strong 3-point shooting team," Kamehameha-Hawai'i coach Kimo Miller said. "If the girls feel it, they have the green light to shoot it."

The Warriors opened the game with a 3-pointer from Yang, who had all three of hers in the first quarter to propel her team to a 16-4 lead.

The Knights (10-5) closed to 22-17 in the second quarter, but Galdones drained two 3s in the final 84 seconds of the quarter to give the Warriors a 28-17 lead at the half.

Castle trailed 39-26 after three quarters, but went on a 9-0 run to open the fourth quarter to close to 39-35 in the first two minutes. The Warriors found their composure to hold off the hard-charging Knights.

"I was impressed with their discipline," Miller said of the Knights. "They didn't panic when we pressed. They were deliberate and broke it."

But the damage had already been done by the Warriors' 3-point shooting.

Shanyn Fafard-Ka'aihue led the Knights with 11 points and shared her team's rebound lead with Tihani Kekauoha with six. Kellsie Sasaki added 10 points for Castle.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.