Boosted by the return of junior guard Janelle Nomura, Punahou reclaimed the Interscholastic League of Honolulu girls basketball championship last night by rallying past 'Iolani, 49-31.

A crowd of about 1,400 at Punahou's Hemmeter Fieldhouse watched the Buffanblu — ranked No. 2 in The Advertiser's statewide Top 10 poll of coaches and media — overcome an 11-0 deficit after one period to finish the regular season at 11-1. They will receive the league's top seed and first-round bye in the state tournament Feb. 19-22.

No. 1 'Iolani fell to 9-2 and has one game remaining against Mid-Pacific on Tuesday. The Raiders will need to earn the ILH's second berth through the league's postseason tournament Feb. 5 and 7.

Immediately after last night's game, it was feared they might have to play without leading scorer and rebounder Jamie Smith, a 6-foot senior post who was an Advertiser All-State first team selection in 2007.

Smith was thought to have a broken nose after colliding with a Punahou player with about 30 seconds remaining. She was taken to Castle Medical Center, where it was determined that there were no broken bones or fractures, 'Iolani co-athletic director Eddie Maruyama said.

It still is unknown how long Smith will be out of action.

The Buffanblu can relate, having lost Nomura for four weeks after she suffered a right ankle injury at a tournament in Phoenix last month. Without her, they lost to the Raiders, 48-35, two weeks ago.

Nomura returned to the lineup in a victory over Kamehameha on Thursday, and she finished with 11 points last night, including a 35-foot shot at the third-period buzzer to give Punahou a 34-25 lead entering the fourth.

'IOLANI (9-2) 11 5 9 6 — 31

PUNAHOU (11-1) 0 16 18 15 — 49

'IOLANI — Elysse Tom 0, Tami Konishi 0, Kylie Ahlo 6, Lahela Usui 0, Lori Yamashita 2, Chanel Hirata 8, Dayna Jandoc 0, Jamie Smith 15, Raechele Takara 0, Georgette Lopes-Liutolo 0, Shauni Watanabe 0, Hailey Maeda 0. Totals 9 10-14 31.

PUNAHOU — Rebecca Lau 8, Brittnie Lau 0, Julianne Nomura 0, Dara Tompkison 8, Anna Merrifield 2, Shawna Lei Kuehu 12, Ashley Satterwhite 0, Shaena Lyn Kuehu 8, Janelle Nomura 11, Jenny Ching 0, Kysa Ludviksen 0, Tressa Torres 0, Tiera Jenson 0. Totals 15 16-20 49.

3-point goals: 'Iolani 3 (Hirata 2, Smith). Punahou 3 (R. Lau, Shae. Kuehu, Nomura).

PUNAHOU 47, 'IOLANI 40 (DI-AA)

'IOLANI (1-4) 9 5 13 13 — 40

PUNAHOU (4-2) 8 11 13 15 — 47

'IOLANI — Meghan Jackson 4, Sarah Agustin 0, Kimberlee Hashiba 3, Allison Turgeon 8, Jessica Sasaki 5, Kari Kuboyama 0, Keesa Robinson 0, Alison Nojima 10, Jen Wong 4, Krista Speroni 6. Totals 14 9-15 40.

PUNAHOU — Jennie Li 0, Ashley Galacgac 10, Kailee Kealoha 1, Sara Nishikawa 4, Samantha Howell 5, Megan Wong 0, Taylor Maruyama 0, Kira Kubota 0, Julia Ayabe 2, Cherie Ng 0, Chelsea Oda 6, Jessica Lin 0, Charney Heimuli 19. Totals 15 14-28 47.

3-point goals: 'Iolani 3 (Turgeon 2, Hashiba). Punahou 3 (Galacgac, Nishikawa, Howell).

Reported by Scott Metcalf

MARYKNOLL 45, UNIVERSITY 41:

Tiana Marquez scored 14 points and the Spartans hit six 3-pointers to remain undefeated in girls Division II. Melissa Cortez scored 14 for the Junior Rainbows at Mid-Pacific gym.

UNIVERSITY HIGH (8-2) 10 9 9 13 — 41

MARYKNOLL (6-0) 15 5 15 10 — 45

UNIVERSITY HIGH — Melanie Cortez 10, Melissa Cortez 14, Piilani Mahoe 4, Brittany Copp 6, Chanel Casamina 1, Nicole Bareng 4, Ruth Tusi 2. Totals 11 18-29 41.

MARYKNOLL — Kristen Canencia 6, Ashley Agcaoili 2, Corine Gushikuma 0, Kimberly Henderson 3, Melissa Ching 3, Sam Chung 9, Soana Fifita 8, Tiana Marquez 14. Totals 15 9-14 45.

3-point goals: University High 1 (Cortez). Maryknoll 6 (Canencia 2, Marquez 2, Henderson, Ching).

Reported by Sean Aoyagi

BOYS

'IOLANI 60, MARYKNOLL 52:

Taylor Mounts scored 20 points to lead the Raiders past the Spartans at Mid-Pacific gym. Richard Herring scored 15 for Maryknoll.

'IOLANI (7-2) 19 9 18 14 — 60

MARYKNOLL (4-4) 13 12 14 13 — 52

'IOLANI — Kela Marciel 3, Andrew Skalman 2, Nick Christman 0, Trevyn Tulonghari 10, Lionel Fujioka 0, Berton Wong 6, Bricen McCartney 0, Pablo Warner 12, Taylor Mounts 20, Jarrett Arakawa 7. Totals 23 10-16 60.

MARYKNOLL — Kent Kawahara 0, Brian Saxton 2, Tyler Terai 5, Scott Kamimura 0, Garrick Chock 4, Christian Bueno-Kanei 13, Javen Correia 5, Rian Huizingh 0, Richard Herring 15, Jordan Napoleon 0, Ross Lum 8. Totals 17 14-17 52.

3-point goals: 'Iolani 4 (Tulonghari, Mounts 2, Arakawa). Maryknoll 4 (Bueno-Kanei 3, Terai).

Reported by Sean Aoyagi

MID-PACIFIC 66, PUNAHOU 48:

Marcus Holyfield scored a game-high 34 points to lead the Owls to an upset of the host Buffanblu.

MID-PACIFIC (2-6) 22 19 8 17 — 66

PUNAHOU (7-2) 14 14 8 12 — 48

MID-PACIFIC — Jonathan Taniguchi 0, Shane Kurihara 2, Sampson Won 4, Ryan Kurihara 5, Jaime Rivera 4, Marcus Holyfield 34, Dustyn Uchiyama 0, Brad Wu 0, Kellar Ellsworth 6, Devon Takenaka 11, Cameron Roberts 0, Matt Shibata 0, Joshua Jamias 0. Totals 22 16-25 66.

PUNAHOU — Dalton Hilliard 9, Robert Toma 5, Matt Feldman 2, Sean McFadden 0, Shane Yoshiyama 3, Henry Cassiday 2, Kimo Makaula 0, Manti Te'o 6, Kameron Steinhoff 17, Kai Gaddis 0, Trevor Crabb 4, Casey Shibuya 0. Totals 17 10-17 48.

3-point goals: Mid-Pacific 6 (Takenaka 3, Won, Kurihara, Holyfield). Punahou 4 (Hilliard 2, Toma, Yoshiyama).

Reported by Scott Metcalf

PUNAHOU 60, 'IOLANI 36 (DI-AA)

'IOLANI (1-4) 12 3 13 8 — 36

PUNAHOU (3-2) 12 14 18 16 — 60

'IOLANI — Matt Koyama 8, Justin Ho 2, Reyn Kimura 3, John Tsuji 0, Keenan Ho'ohuli 7, Kevin Serai 6, Jeff Sakamoto 2, Chase Hu 1, Mason

Choy 7. Totals 10 16-32 36.

PUNAHOU — Andrew Kuriyama 6, Micah Marter 1, Galen Arakawa 6, Damian Pherigo 6, Jeremey Kaimikaua 9, Cale Honda 0, Darryl Cheng 0, Matt

Blanco 5, Jacob Brovelli 2, Nicholas Kido 5, Spencer Dung 4, Pono Akina 3, Joshua Bninski 11, Ian Pene 2, Nick Fujita 0. Totals 25 4-11 60.

3-point goals: 'Iolani none. Punahou 6 (Kuriyama 2, Arakawa, Kaimikaua, Kido, Akina).

Reported by Scott Metcalf

UNIVERSITY 66, ACADEMY OF THE PACIFIC 39:

Noah Chong-Viernes scored 14 and Isaiah DeLaura added 13 to lead University High in a Division II game at Mid-Pacific gym.

AOP (2-5) 10 5 11 13 — 39

UNIVERSITY HIGH (6-0) 26 8 22 10 — 66

ACADEMY OF THE PACIFIC — Evan Paresa 0, Christian Piimoku 0, Bradley Foster 32, Ikaika Ramos 7, Lopaka Davis 0, Daniel Stanfield 0. Totals 12 14-23 39.

UNIVERSITY HIGH — Marc Siler 0, Bryan McGuinness 0, Isaiah DeLaura 13, Kyle Nitta 0, Kent Morita 3, Noah Chong-Viernes 14, Casey Harlow 2, James Loui 4, Victor Jube 7, Kolio Copp 7, Dylan Gomez 10, Scott Awaya 2, Andrew Bayan 4. Totals 30 6-12 66.

3-point goals: Academy of the Pacific 1 (Foster). University High none.

Reported by Sean Aoyagi

HANALANI 51, ASSETS 22:

P.J. Minaya scored 18 points as Hanalani rolled past visiting ASSETS in a Division II game.

ASSETS (1-6) 7 7 3 5 — 22

HANALANI (5-1) 15 17 13 6 — 51

ASSETS — Grant Kitagawa 8, Brandon Kushima 0, Rance Kuwata 0, Troy Toyama 2, Logann Molina 1, Jordan Kumasaka 2, Kupu Henderson 3, Eric Bottomley 0, Fabrrizio Alliata 0, G. Kato 0, George Cambra 6. Totals 8 5-17 22.

HANALANI — Andrew Kutaka 0, Darin Kamealoha 7, P.J. Minaya 18, Matt Simbre 2, Matt Guerrero 1, Brysen Honda 6, Brandon Kido 0, Jamal Mentor 0, Andrew Rattanassay 2, Tyler Simao 7, Joshua Thomas 0, John Cunningham 8. Totals 21 5-14 51.

3-point goals: ASSETS 1 (Henderson). Hanalani 4 (Kamealoha, Minaya, Honda 2).

Reported by Rob Araki

WORD OF LIFE 81, LE JARDIN 54:

Jacob Alvarado scored a team-high 18 points for the Firebrands over the Bulldogs in a Division II game at Manoa Recreation Center.

WORD OF LIFE (4-2) 26 27 9 19 — 81

LE JARDIN (2-3) 7 14 12 21 — 54

WORD OF LIFE — Rafael Torres 7, Ryan Alvarado 0, Daniel Zerba 0, Jared Shimabukuro 2, Roc Ornog 1, Jacob Alvarado 18, Peter Hanakahi 10, Aaron Tipoti 12, Gabe Miller 8, Christian Silva 4, Phillip Clarke 11, Kahu Mariani 2, Travis Ogami 6. Totals 35 10-15 81.

LE JARDIN — Alex Johnston 2, Kevin Togami 0, Adam Trecker 0, Oliver Donkervoet 0, Kalani Soeda 1, Kelvin Akamine 12, John Whitty 24, William Durnin 0, Taylor Gray 15, Joshua Kava 0, Alex Gomes 0, Max Rausch 0. Totals 20 11-18 54.

3-point goals: Word of Life 1 (Alavardo). Le Jardin 3 (Gray 2, Akamine).

Reported by Murphy Kealoha

CHRISTIAN ACAD. 59, LANAKILA BAPTIST 55:

Jason Ko scored a game-high 21 points to lead the Patriots over the Warriors in a Division II game at Manoa Recreation Center.

CHRISTIAN ACAD. (4-3) 7 13 18 21 — 59

LANAKILA BAPTIST (3-4) 9 19 13 14 — 55

CHRISTIAN ACADEMY — Michael Urcia 11, Jathniel Manahan 2, Abel Orbistondo 12, Joshua Kaoiwi 0, Axton Durand 7, Zachary Fu 4, Jake Okamura 1, Brett Koga 1, Jason Ko 21, Robert Helsham Jr. 0. Totals 20 15-35 59.

LANAKILA BAPTIST — Zachary Ramos 8, Marcus Takahashi 0, Joshua Pananganan 8, Armando Cayabyab 12, Keawe Ochman 2, Chase Hazlewood 14, Christian Oasay 4, Glenn Yri 7. Totals 19 16-27 55.

3-point goals: Christian Academy 4 (Ko 3, Orbistondo). Lanakila Baptist 1 (Hazlewood).

Reported by Peter Estomago