DAY IN SPORTS: MONTCLAIR PREP BEATEN - AND BEATEN UP - BY HAWAIIAN TEAM.

Byline: Daily News

When you're 6-foot-8 and 260 pounds, there's a tendency to be noticed. And that's not always a good thing, as was the case with Derek Daniels and the Montclair Prep boys' basketball team experienced Thursday in the Bronze Cup fifth-place game of the Las Vegas Powerade Holiday Prep Classic.

``(Kalaheo of Hawaii) was intentionally hacking and trying to get our big man (Daniels) out of his game like NBA teams do to Shaq in the pros,'' teammate Eric Kaufman said.

The strategy resulted in loose ball pile-up and brawl and four player ejections as Kaleho hacked out a 76-55 victory over the Mounties of Van Nuys at Green Valley High.

Trailing 49-39 with 11:17 remaining in the second half, Daniels was intentionally fouled by Remington Chun which resulted in a loose ball and subsequent brawl for the ball.

Daniels found himself on the floor in the pile with three Kalaheo players - C.J. Kaimiola, Aubrey Bailey and Keoki Duarte - and all three were subsequently ejected from the game along with Kaufman, who came over to help Daniels.

``Eric didn't do anything to get tossed the way he did, he was only helping by getting players off of me,'' Daniels said. ``And their guy (Chun), who started everything with the intentional foul, didn't even get tossed.''

Mounties coach Tyrone Fuller suspects Kalaheo of emptying its bench to hack Daniels.

``Now I can't prove this happened, but I'm old-school where coaches often use players, who don't normally play much otherwise, to intentionally foul and disrupt your best player's game,'' Fuller said. ``What's unfortunate is that the kids from both teams were denied the opportunity of experiencing what could have otherwise been a great game.''

The Mounties (6-5) were unable to sustain their high-low offense because no one else picked up the perimeter shooting that Kaufman normally provides. Only three baskets were made by the rest of the Mounties, two by Jason Goss and one by Mark Jackson.

Kaufman, named to the all-tournament team, finished with 13 points, making five of seven shots including three of four 3-point baskets.

Without the perimeter threat, Kalaheo (11-1) then double-and-tripled teamed Daniels in the low post and the Mustangs guarding the Montclair Prep center exaggerated all contact with him, drawing player-control fouls until Daniels fouled out with 3:40 remaining in the game.

- George Vranau

In other boys' basketball:

--Top gun falls: Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks, the top ranked team by the Daily News, suffered its first loss with a 70-64 defeat at the hands of Valley Sacramento at the Mission Prep tournament. Cody Pearson had 28 points and 14 rebounds for the Knights (6-1).

--Two-way star: Taft of Woodland Hills football star Steve Smith is also the shining star in basketball. He had 29 points, 17 rebounds and four steals in the Toreadors' 72-42 rout of Atascadero in the Arroyo Grande tournament. Mustafa Asghari added 14 points, five steals and five assists for Taft (7-2).

--Dons fall: Leon Usher's 16 points weren't enough for Verdugo Hills of Tujunga, which dropped a 56-47 decision to St. George of British Columbia at the La Canada tournament. Daniel Dingman had 15 for the Dons (1-10).

In girls' basketball:

--Chargers pull away: Jamie Kogler had 17 points and Jennifer Lacy added 11 points and 10 rebounds as Agoura (8-4) used a 21-10 run in the fourth quarter to pull away from San Marcos of Santa Barbara for a 54-39 victory at the Santa Barbara Tournament.

--Rounding it off: Erin Roundtree scored two points but it was her 14 rebounds that sparked Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks in a 51-42 victory over St. Anthony of Long Beach in the Santa Barbara tournament. Sierra Hauser-Price had 19 points and Nikki Imnaromna had 18 and four blocks for the Knights (5-5).

--Tigers roar: Erica Galindo had 16 points and San Fernando used a 28-10 first half run to rout Bravo of Los Angeles 67-35 at the San Fernando tournament. Marsha Arrizon got 10 points for the Tigers.

--Parrots rebound: Poly of Van Nuys bounced back from a 19-point loss to San Fernando with a 39-28 win over Birmingham of Van Nuys at the San Fernando tournament. Veronica Randolph was the lone scorer in double figures for the Parrots (2-4), with 12 points. Negin Kahen led the Patriots (0-6) with 20 points and seven rebounds.

In girls' soccer:

--Good win, tough loss: Valencia experienced some highs and lows at the Buena tournament, defeating Camarillo 1-0 and then suffering its first loss of the season with a 3-0 setback to Buena of Ventura. Leah Shelton had the lone goal for the Vikings (9-1) in the Camarillo game.

--More mixed results: Oak Park split its games at the Buena tournament once again, defeating La Serna of Whittier 1-0 and falling to Esperanza of Anaheim, the fifth-ranked team in the Southern Section, 3-0. Against La Serna (5-5), Amy Poyer scored the lone goal for the Eagles (8-5). Against Esperanza (9-1-4), Liz Young had five saves for Oak Park.

In girls' water polo:

--Weber wins it: Bailey Weber scored the winning goal with two minutes remaining in the second overtime to lead visiting Louisville of Woodland Hills to a 4-3 victory over Glendale in a nonleague match. Marisela Pasos got the Royals (6-6) started, scoring the team's three goals in regulation.

--Blowout!!: Jennifer Nantroup had five goals and Carrie Karamas and Hollis Reilly each added four goals in host Royal of Simi Valley's 20-1 destruction of Westlake in a Marmonte League match. Jennifer Palmberg contributed two goals for the Highlanders (11-2).

PRIME TIME PLAYERS

Boys' basketball

--Steve Smith (Taft) 29 pts., 17 rbs.

--Derek Daniels (Mont. Prep) 29 points

Girls' basketball

--Negin Kahen (Birmingham) 20 pts.

--Jamie Kogler (Agoura) 17 pts.

Boys' soccer

--Whitney Fike (Simi Valley) 2 goals

--Jared Thornton (L.A. Baptist) 2 goals

Girls' soccer

--Sara Silver-Hill (Westlake) 3 goals

Girls' water polo

--Jennifer Nantroup (Royal) 5 goals

--Carrie Karamas (Royal) 4 goals