For Konawaena's youthful girls basketball team, the bright future is now.

The Wildcats — with three freshmen and a sophomore in the starting lineup — rallied past Punahou, 54-50, last night in a double-overtime thriller to win the school's third Hawaiian Airlines/Hawai'i High School Athletic Association championship in six years.

A vocal, mostly pro-Konawaena crowd of 1,687 at Blaisdell Arena watched the Wildcats finish the regular and postseason unbeaten at 15-0.

"It feels really good, I think we deserve it because we worked hard," said Konawaena freshman Lia Galdeira, a 5 foot 7 wing who finished with a game-high 23 points, along with nine rebounds and four steals. "We just had to play our game, have heart and don't choke."

There certainly were many tense moments, especially after the Wildcats saw a 40-30 lead with 7:11 remaining in regulation completely slip away after Janelle Nomura's layup tied it at 44-44 with 35 seconds left.

Konawaena then missed a 3-point attempt and putback as time expired.

"Down 10 in the fourth quarter, I give our girls a lot of credit," Buffanblu coach Mike Taylor said. "They fought back and believed in each other."

Punahou (13-2) suffered a setback with 2:10 remaining in the first OT, when starting post Tressa Torres fouled out.

Sophomore Thea Hanato-Smith sank the second of two free throws to give the Wildcats a 45-44 lead, but Julianne Nomura tied it with a free throw with 1:36 left, and neither team could score again before the 4-minute period expired.

Galdeira finally put Konawaena ahead 47-45 on a layup — their first field goal since midway through the fourth quarter — with 2:23 remaining in the second OT. She then scored on another layup with 1:17 left to make it 49-45.

The Buffanblu closed it to 49-47 on a layup by Janelle Nomura with 41 seconds remaining, but Galdeira answered with a layup after a nifty turnaround move in the lane 15 seconds later. After Punahou misfired on a shot attempt, freshman Dawnyelle Awa grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 12 seconds left.

She sank both free throws in the double-bonus to make it 53-47. After the Buffanblu missed a 3-point attempt, Kara Hanato-Smith sank a free throw with six seconds remaining.

"Our young girls did get rattled (in the fourth period), they did lose their composure a bit," Wildcats coach Bobbie Awa said. "We called a timeout to try and calm them down, but you have to give credit to (guard) Kara Hanato-Smith — she's our senior leader out there and she spoke to the girls about getting back on track."

Kara Hanato-Smith said she just repeated her coaches' instructions.

"I just said we had to play at our pace, because we were starting to play at (Punahou's) pace," said Hanato-Smith, who was a sophomore on Konawaena's 2007 state championship team.

Kimberly Brown added 13 points and seven rebounds for the Wildcats.

Janelle Nomura, who played the final 5:48 of regulation plus both overtimes with four fouls, led Punahou with 20 points and four steals, and Torres added 10 points and seven rebounds.

Konawaena expects eight players to return next year.

"You saw some of their youthfulness tonight, you saw them breaking down a bit," Awa said. "But they came through in the end."

THIRD PLACE

LAHAINALUNA 56, FARRINGTON 52

Milika Taufa scored 22 points, Maiki Viela added 18 and Rachael Rickard 12, helping the Lunas (16-1) beat the Governors (19-3). Lahainaluna made 21 of 31 free throws. Kirsten Liana led the Govs with 14 points.

FARRINGTON (19-3) 14 10 11 17 — 52

LAHAINALUNA (16-1) 18 10 16 12 — 56

FARRINGTON— Natalie Mata 4, Lucky Crichton 6, Brydgette Tatupu-Leopoldo 8, Precious Maave 0, Janell Nance 2, Macilee Moi 0, Kirsten Liana 14, Valerie Lesu 8, Sofia Folaumahina 2, Aisha Gaea 0, Lusina Otineru 8. Totals 22 7-15 52.

LAHAINALUNA — Maiki Viela 18, Elizabeth Lagbas 0, Trina Akima 0, Rachael Rickard 12, Mele Filikitonga 2, Milika Taufa 22, Kelsea Cabrera 1, Hiilei Bacalso 0, Ana-Marie Lauese 0, Matenoa Taufa 0, Ofa Namoa 0, Kiana Neizman 1. Totals 17 21-31 56.

3-point goals: Farrington 1 (Tatupu-Leopoldo). Lahainaluna 1 (Viela).

FIFTH PLACE

ROOSEVELT 51, 'IOLANI 48

Tasia Kamakawiwo'ole scored 16 points as the Rough Riders (14-8) topped the Raiders (11-7).

Kylie Maeda led 'Iolani with 10 points.

'IOLANI (11-7) 9 10 16 13 — 48

ROOSEVELT (14-8) 11 10 11 19 — 51

'IOLANI — Elysse Tom 0, Tami Konishi 9, Kylie Maeda 10, Saphrye Rezentes 4, Lori Yamashita 4, Georgette Lopes-Liutolo 6, Kaitlyn Shikada 4, Kryn Masutani 2, Mahina Haina 2, Lahela Usui 7, Shauni Watanabe 0, Brittany Barnes 0. Totals 18 6-8 48.

ROOSEVELT — Charisse Tanabe 3, Kelcie Namba 0, Samantha Murakami 3, Kathleen Nakata 6, Nicole Ramirez 8, Abcde Furuta-Harada 9, Rachel Gomes 0, Mikela Thoemmes 5, Joshy Noga 1, Cierra Kapea 0, Tasia Kamakawiwo'ole 16. Totals 18 11-18 51. 3-point goals: 'Iolani 6 (Maeda, Lopes-Liutolo, Usui, Konishi 3). Roosevelt 4 (Ramirez 2, Murakami, Nakata).