by Kyle Sakamoto
Sarah Liva’s play in the paint and a couple of late buckets by Nicole Gonzalez helped Hanalani rally past McKinley.
Liva had 19 points, 20 rebounds and six blocks for the Royals, who trailed 27-14 with 1:53 left before halftime.
“We finally got the ball to her and she put it in in the second half,” Hanalani coach Charles Hiers said of Liva, a 6-foot sophomore.
Hanalani, who spent the entire game in a 2-3 zone, took a 34-33 on a steal and layup by Catherine Armstrong with 5:42 remaining.
The Royals took the lead for good at 39-37 on Gonzalez’s steal and layup with 1:33 left.
She added another steal and layup with 12 seconds remaining for a 41-37 Royals’ lead. Gonzalez finished with 14 points and six steals. As Gonzalez drove to the bucket, Hiers said he wanted to take a timeout, but decided against it.
McKinley was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 4.4 seconds remaining. The Tigers player hit the first and missed the next two. McKinley got the rebound and a player missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer as time expired.
Hanalani will play No. 3 seed Maryknoll in a quarterfinal game tonight at 7 p.m. at Kalani.
McKinley will play the loser of Kalani/Hawaii Baptist in a consolation game today at 3 p.m. at Kalani.
In the first half, Mariz Navarro had four of McKinley’s 11 steals before halftime.
Hanalani was 0 of 8 from the free-throw line, including misses on the front ends of two 1-and-1s, in the first half. The Royals finished 1 of 9 from the line.
“We did the little things,” Hiers said. “First half, we had a lot of turnovers and weren’t capitalizing. Our free throws were terrible, but we still won.”
Tiare Sugui scored 12 points, including three first-half 3-pointers, for McKinley. Miranda Schmillen added 10 points.
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