PUKALANI, Maui — In a knock-down, drag-out battle, it was the defending champions who came out on top.

The Kamehameha Schools Maui boys basketball team finished its recovery from a 1-3 stretch in the final month of the season to win its second straight Maui Interscholastic League Division I title, 54-45 over Lahainaluna last night.

The overall championship game — played in front of a screaming, standing-room-only crowd at King Kekaulike gym — was the teams' fifth meeting this season. The Warriors (11-4) took the series 3-2 by winning a physical contest that was tied 15-15 at halftime.

After four fouls were whistled in the first 90 seconds of the game, the first half ended with neither team reaching the bonus at the foul line.

Kaleo DeMello, a 5-foot-11 guard and one of seven seniors on the Kamehameha roster, led the way with 14 points. The Warriors' second victory over the Lunas in a week — they won 64-51 last Friday in the MIL tournament final — erased two losses in a 12-day span in Lahaina that were part of the 1-3 stretch. In the Jan. 18 contest, the Lunas won 54-53 after being down by 14 at halftime.

''That was a battle,'' DeMello said to The Maui News. ''We lost those first two in Lahaina, but we prepared all week long, two weeks of really hard practices. We worked hard and it showed these past three games against Baldwin and Lahaina.''

The Warriors, who finished third in the MIL regular season behind the Lunas (11-4) and Baldwin, won their third straight contest in which a loss would have ended their MIL title hopes. A loss in their MIL tournament semifinal with Baldwin last week would have left them home from next week's state tournament.

''It is just practice, everybody came out to practice, the coaches pushed us to make sure,'' DeMello said. ''We didn't want to give it up after that bad run, but those (Lunas) are a tough team. I was a little worried during our bad stretch, but after the practices we had this past week we had faith in ourselves.''

The Lunas took their biggest lead of the game at 5-0, and a 3-pointer by center Nuti Pousima put Lahainaluna in front 11-7 at the end of the first quarter.

DeMello made a jumper, then hit Erwin DeCoite for a layup a little over two minutes into the second quarter that tied the game at 11-11.

Another fastbreak basket by DeMello gave the Warriors their first lead, and a coast-to-coast drive by Bryan Pali put them up 15-11.

John Craig, who led the Lunas with 14 points, tied the game at halftime on a layup with 1:18 to go in the second quarter.

The Lunas took their largest lead of the second half just 20 seconds in when Craig came up with a steal and was intentionally fouled on a breakaway. He hit both free throws and Ty Carter scored for the Lunas on the possession that followed.

Carter again broke free and scored on an assist from Craig to give the Lunas a 26-23 lead with just under three minutes to go in the third quarter.

Pali then provided four points and an assist to lead the Warriors on an 8-0 run to end the quarter.

The closest the Lunas would draw in the fourth quarter was three on two occasions, the final one at 33-30 when Craig scored with seven minutes remaining. The Lunas, who refused to go quietly in front of the Kamehameha-dominated crowd, got within 40-36 when Paul Salvador hit a pair of free throws with 3:12 to go.

From there, the Warriors went on a 7-0 run to take a 47-36 lead with 2:14 left, a lead that proved safe as they continually broke the Lunas' press down the stretch.

In the final three wins, the Warriors had different leading scorers each time. Last night, it was DeMello's turn.

''It is not a one-guy team,'' he said. ''You never know who is going to step up in the game. It is never one person.''

Kamehameha coach Lance Cagasan said several times down the stretch of the season that the MIL title belonged to his team until someone else took it away.

''It feels really great,'' Cagasan said with his 3-year-old son, Cade, in his arms. ''In the beginning of the year, we felt we were legitimate champions and we read the paper and I told the boys, they were kind of bummed because Kamehameha wasn't mentioned. I told them, 'It doesn't matter. You don't win championships in November or December. You win it here.'

''This is what we play for, tonight's game. Every team that practices in the MIL, this is what they play for.''

It was a tough loss for the Lunas, several of whom were in tears with the Kamehameha celebration going on.

''They made the right plays at the end when they needed to and that is how the game goes,'' Lahainaluna coach Eric Balinbin said, fighting his emotions. ''They beat us on both sides, we missed a couple of chippies in there. It is always a game of inches — missed putbacks or a turnover. You know, I am proud of my guys because they worked so hard. This one is going to sting because they worked hard, we worked really, really hard.

''It is a tough one any way you look at it. These are two very evenly matched teams.''

LAHAINALUNA (45)

Paul Salvador 1 3-4 6, Ty Carter 3 0-0 7, Dillon Soldwisch 1 0-2 2, Nuti Pousima 2 3-5 8, John Craig 5 4-9 14, Jayson Manning 2 0-0 5, Jake Manning 0 3-4 3. Totals 14 13-24 45.

KAMEHAMEHA-MAUI (54)

Kaleo DeMello 5 3-4 14, Jeffrey Oka 2 1-4 5, Kekoa Turbeville 4 2-2 10, Erwin DeCoite 5 0-0 10, Terani Richmond 0 0-0 0, Kalae Camarillo 0 0-0 0, Evan Garces 0 0-0 0, Kaiea Medeiros 2 0-0 4, Bryan Pali 4 3-6 11. Totals 22 9-16 54.

Lahainaluna 11 4 11 19—45

KS-Maui 7 8 16 23—54

3-point field goals—Lahainaluna 4 (Salvador, Pousima, Jay. Manning, Carter); KS-Maui—1 (DeMello). Total fouls—Lahainaluna 16, KS-Maui 21. Fouled out—Soldwisch, DeMello.

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