The Castle Knights got off to a hot start, weathered a cold stretch, then regrouped and held on.

Michael Santos scored 22 points, Nick Tuamoheloa had 14, and Isaiah Tilton added 11 to lead top-seeded Castle to a 57-44 victory over fourth-seeded Moloka'i in last night's semifinals of the Hawaiian Airlines/Hawai'i High School Athletic Association Division II Boys Basketball State Championships at Farrington.

Castle (17-2) will face Kailua (17-3) in today's 5 p.m. championship game at the Neal Blaisdell Arena. Castle defeated Kailua last Saturday to win the O'ahu Interscholastic Association White Division title.

"We've never made it to the (state) championship game," Santos said. "This is for our whole school, our community."

Joseph Akaka scored 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the loss for the Farmers (13-4). Moloka'i plays No. 2 Kohala in today's third-place game.

Down by 15 at halftime, the Farmers went with a man-to-man defense to shut down the Knights in the third quarter and put up a monstrous rally that vocalized a crowd of about 150.

Moloka'i forced two turnovers and scored the first six points of the third quarter to cut the deficit to 35-26 with 5:21 left. The Farmers then closed to 37-32 after Kamakana Duvachelle-Andrade's putback with 2:52 left.

"Ever since we made the first basket, we got on each other to keep going and going and never stop," Akaka said. "We all had that fire."

The Farmers then had two more chances to cut into the deficit, but got called for travelling under the basket and then missed a layup. The Farmers outscored the Knights 12-4 in the third.

After shooting 50 percent from the field in the first half, including 8-of-16 from 3-point range, Castle coach Jeff Hiro told his players "don't be surprised when shots don't fall."

"We lost some focus," Hiro said.

Castle regrouped and extended its lead to nine-points on three occasions early in the fourth quarter and made the most of its free throw opportunities. The Knights made 12 of 20 free throws in the fourth with Tuamoheloa making six and Santos hitting four.

"Coach said just take your time and suck it in," Santos said.

Castle found its range from long distance early in the game. The Knights made 5 of 10 3-pointers, nearly all of them uncontested, to lead 19-7 at the end of the first quarter.

Castle extended its lead to 27-9 after Santos and Tilton each hit a 3-pointer, and Jordan Aleki made a putback with 5:50 left in the second quarter.

"Coach told us to push it up the court, we had to put it away early," Santos said. "All the shots were falling. We had to keep shooting and eventually we'd make them."

CASTLE (17-2) 19 16 4 18 — 57

MOLOKA'I (13-4) 7 13 12 12 — 44

CASTLE — Michael Santos 22, Russell Ige 0, Nick Tuamoheloa 14, Dennis Barrientos 4, Isaiah Tilton 11, KJ Aipia 0, Jordan Aleki 6. Totals 18 13-25 57.

MOLOKA'I — Herbert Antolin 0, Alvin Ringor 3, Scottie Rapanot 6, Joseph Akaka 22, Kawaiola Kalipi 5, Julien Bumatay 0, Micah Ritte-Manangan 2, Kamakana Duvauchelle-Andrade 2, Kinohi Kelly-Paleka 4, Keoni Kahoalii 0. Totals 21 1-9 44. 3-point goals: Castle 8 (Santos 3, Tilton 3, Tuamoheloa 2). Moloka'i 1 (Kalipi).

CONSOLATION

PAHOA 52, KAPA'A 46, OT

PAHOA (11-5) 8 8 18 10 8 — 52

KAPA'A (7-5) 7 10 14 13 2 — 46

Pahoa — Chris Mendoza 3, Jonathan Viernes 22, John Byrd 10, Sheyten Waters 14, Sonny Miguel 0, Ricky Corpuz 0, Bryan Miguel 3, Dustin Sakoda 0. Totals 18 9-16 52.

KAPA'A — Cody Abigania 3, Kekoa Colipano 12, Thomas Gausepohl 12, Sean Shigematsu 6, Duke Pauli 9, Stephen Greenleaf 3, Jin Wu 0, James Padre 0, Viliami Masaniai 0, Lewis Lindsey 1. Totals 18 10-22 46.

3-point goals: Pahoa 7 (Mendoza, Viernes 3, B. Miguel, Waters 2). Kapa'a none.

SEABURY HALL 64, UHS 39

SEABURY HALL (12-6) 13 13 22 18 — 64

UNIVERSITY HIGH (13-4) 13 9 7 10 — 39

SEABURY HALL — Kasen Dudley 9, Phelan Pagano 14, Dylan King 15, Michael Palmer 9, Jack Webber 4, Reynald Sorayama 3, Josh Chapple 8, Max Kapua-Chiong 2. Totals not reported.

UNIVERSITY HIGH — Adam Oshiro 2, Micah Ganiron 2, Kent Morita 6, Cameron Conant 1, Kolio Copp 6, Dylan Gomez 19, Nalu O'Connor 1, Garin Vestal 2. Totals not reported.

3-point goals: not reported.