It was all McKinley in the inaugural Division II state basketball championships.

McKinley put this one away in the first half with a 22-0 run and its defense shut down third-seeded Kohala in a 55-28 victory last night in the final of the Hawaiian Airlines/HHSAA Boys Basketball Division II State Championships at the Stan Sheriff Center.

McKinley won its first basketball state championship.

"It means everything," said senior guard Jonathan Lee. "We never had any banners up there (in our gym) for boys basketball. This is our first one."

The Tigers' huge run gave them a 32-10 halftime advantage. McKinley's largest lead was 39-14 after a layup by Nainoa Lessary with 4:20 remaining in the third quarter.

The Tigers spent the entire game in a 2-3 zone and held the Cowboys to 11-of-57 shooting.

"We start out with that, see what we can do with it," McKinley coach Bob Morikuni said. "We have other things in our package, but it was working so we didn't want to do anything else."

Lee scored 14 points, including 8 of 12 free-throw attempts, and Lessary added 12 points for McKinley, the O'ahu Interscholastic Association runner-up.

The game was tied 10-10 with 23 seconds remaining in the first quarter after a field goal by Kohala's Ryan Bautista. From then on, it was all McKinley (13-6) as Earvin Sione and Lee each scored seven points during the surge.

McKinley was 7 of 12 from the field in the second quarter. Kohala (15-4) was 0 of 10 with seven turnovers.

Brandon Bautista's free throw 16 seconds into the second half ended an eight-minute, 40-second scoreless drought for Kohala, the Big Island Interscholastic Federation champion.

Kohala, which had only two players taller than 5-foot-10, couldn't speed up the tempo with its 1-2-1-1 full-court press. The poor shooting didn't help either.

"To speed up the tempo we got to hit shots; then we can press," Kohala coach Don Fernandez said. "But we shot 19 percent. That was the killer, the dagger, for us."

McKinley also held a 45-23 advantage on the boards and had 11 blocks, including six by Sione.

"We didn't matchup well when they broke the press and they out-physicaled us for loose balls," Fernandez said. "They really wanted those plays and normally we do that."

Kohala had 6-foot-4 sophomore center Alex Vujovich and 6-7 senior center Ikaika Kahoopii on its roster but both don't play at the same time.

"When you put the two guys in we have a hard time matching up on our press. It kind of doesn't work out well for us," Fernandez said.

McKinley turned it around after an 0-2 start to the season.

"We just believed we could go all the way," senior center Oliver Diguc said. "Things weren't working out at the beginning of the season and we came through. We just believed."

As far as moving up to Division I next season, Morikuni isn't sure.

"We can petition to move up, but it would have to be someone from the top moving down. I'll worry about that later," he said.

KOHALA (16-4) 10 0 6 12—28

MCKINLEY (13-6) 12 20 7 16—55

3-point goals — Kohala 3-13 (R. Bautista 2-6, Marquez 1-2, Pasco 0-1, B. Bautista 0-4), McKinley 1-5 (Lessary 1-2, Kaluna 0-1, Enanoria 0-2).

Blocked shots — Kohala 4 (Kahoopii 4), McKinley 11 (Sione 6). Turnovers — Kohala 14, McKinley 20. Technical fouls — none.

FARRINGTON 71, 'AIEA 60

Christian Hernandez scored 18 points, including five 3-pointers, to lead all scorers and the Governors (13-6) beat Na Ali'i (14-3) in the Division II third-place game.

ACADEMY OF THE PACIFIC 43, UNIVERSITY 36

Tri Bourne scored 18 points and Keoni Daniel 17 to lead the Dolphins (15-6) past the Junior Rainbows (13-4) to capture fifth place in Division II.

Reach Kyle Sakamoto at ksakamoto@honoluluadvertiser.com.