All the usual suspects and ankle biters are gone. The 101st Manoa Cup is down to Golf 101 this morning at Oahu Country Club, with University of Hawai'i sophomore TJ Kua and Chaminade senior Layne Morita playing for the state's most prestigious amateur championship.

The Kaua'i guys ousted former champions in yesterday's breezy semifinals. Morita outlasted a game, but somewhat lame, Kurt Nino, 1-up. The 2007 Manoa Cup champion and recent University of San Francisco graduate has been battling back problems. Nino hung on until the final hole, where Morita kept his remarkable run alive with a three-foot par putt.

"He was so solid," Nino said. "There wasn't anything else I could do but make birdies but it was tough to make birdies. It was windy out there. And the wind doesn't help when you're walking up the hill with a bad back. It's just tough. There were some shots where my knees were shaking and I had to back off.

"I'm proud of him. I've been playing golf with him since we were young and he's been through a lot. He's improved a lot. ... I'm really proud of him, actually glad he won."

Kua's uncle, David Ishii, won Manoa Cup in 1977, before becoming Hawai'i's most successful pro golfer. The nephew could follow in Ishii's footsteps after beating 2004 champion Ryan Perez, 3 and 2, in the other semifinal. Kua allowed Perez to win but two holes yesterday, and won four in a six-hole span as they made the turn to take control.

The former champs went the distance just to get to semis. Nino beat 49-year-old Scott Ichimura, 1-up, and Perez took out Moanalua High School senior-to-be David Saka, 2-up, in the wet morning quarterfinals. Kua won, 4 and 2, over Christopher Armanini while Morita was just warming up with a 7-and-5 victory over Robert Szymoszek.

Chaminade's Male Athlete of the Year has been so sound this week that his third-round match lasted but 12 holes and the one before just 15. Morita was 3-up after 13 holes yesterday afternoon before Nino willed himself back in it.

He won the next two holes, blasting an iron out of the trees and onto the green for an improbable two-putt birdie at the 15th. Morita hit a huge drive down the center, but pulled a much shorter approach shot into the trees and had no real chance at birdie.

Just when it looked like Nino — a 2005 Damien graduate playing in his fourth Manoa Cup semifinal — could pull off another miracle, Morita drained a 12-foot birdie putt on the 16th to dormie the match. Nino was on the ground stretching his back at the time.

"I had the momentum on 13 and when I three-putted 14 he got the momentum back," said Morita, who lost in the first round of his first Manoa Cup last year. "Then, as soon as I hit the shot on No. 16 ... that was the most important shot. It felt like a real roller coaster out there."

The ride wasn't quite over. Nino, a relatively small guy — not as small as Kua — drove the green at the 328-yard par-4 17th and won again with a two-putt birdie.

"I wasn't prepared for that," Morita said. "That was just an amazing shot for him. It was pretty nerve-wracking the last two holes even though it was dormied. ... Not much you can do when he's on the green in one."

There was not much Perez could do about Kua, who made every crucial putt. The most memorable came early, after Perez "stuffed" his approach shot to inches of the fifth hole. From "like 90 feet," Kua whacked his putt and walked behind it grinning, first for fun and then in shock as the ball buried itself in the hole.

His caddie, two-time Manoa Cup champion Travis Toyama, called that the turning point in the match but Kua was too busy "focusing on hitting fairways and greens and not leaving open doors" to notice.

"How he played today is how I've been playing all week," said Perez, who had won his last two tournaments. "He made everything, just played smart golf ... and I got in my own way a little bit. Just enough to mess it up."

Perez, "playing the best golf of my life" at 23, plans to turn pro next year. Nino has a job and plans to get healthy before going pro. Both know precisely what it takes to win Manoa Cup, and both believe the Kaua'i guys that beat them yesterday have it.

"TJ needs to play exactly like he did today ...," Perez said. "All the shots that can swing momentum, he makes' em. It kind of just sinks you a little. And he's out there having a good time. The person who has fun at this tournament has the best chance of winning."

Today's final begins at 7 a.m. and is scheduled for 36 holes. The golfers take a lunch break and start the second 18 at noon. Hole-by-hole scores will be posted at www.808golf.com.