STAR NAMED TOURNAMENT MVP : TWO-SPORT STAR SPARKS HART IN UNEXPECTED RETURN TO COURT.

Byline: Dave Desmond Daily News Staff Writer

One day, you're a would-be spectator. The next, you're the most valuable player of a tournament.

Such was the case last week for Candace Boller, who phoned Hart High School girls' basketball coach Dave Munroe just to ask the time of his team's Simi Valley tournament game later that day.

``I just wanted to go see them play,'' said Boller, last season's Foothill League player of the year who decided to forgo her senior season to concentrate on volleyball, the sport she will play on scholarship next school year at Loyola Marymount University.

``He said, `I don't want you to watch, I want you to play,' '' she said.

Play she did.

Despite suiting up for only two of the Indians' four tournament games, Boller walked away with the event's MVP award after averaging 24 points and 10 rebounds in leading Hart to the title.

Just a few days before the start of the basketball season, the 5-foot-11-inch senior homecoming queen decided that juggling a demanding club volleyball schedule and an in-season varsity sport was near impossible and grudgingly hung up her high tops.

``That was one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make,'' said Boller, an A student who averaged 14.6 points and 9.1 rebounds last season.

It was equally tough on the team, who at the last minute had to go on without its proven star.

``There were a lot of sad faces,'' Munroe said.

Without Boller, the Indians were 5-3 and appeared vulnerable with the league season quickly approaching.

Just prior to the Christmas break, good news finally came to the Indians, who on top of everything else were in their third year of playing without a gymnasium because of the Northridge Earthquake.

The recent opening of Hart's new gym now allows the Indians to plan practices at their own convenience, rather than around longtime host Valencia High School's schedule.

That, in turn, made Boller's volleyball/basketball schedule more workable.

``But she's a very unselfish person,'' Munroe said. ``She was concerned that her returning to the team would upset any team chemistry that had been built to that point.''

The team had no such worries. The players held a meeting and overwhelmingly voted to welcome Boller back. A Jan. 8 nonleague game against Littlerock was set to be her first of the season.

``It means a lot to me that they were willing to accept me back,'' she said. ``I realized how much I missed it.''

Forward Melissa Harrison, Hart's leading scorer in Boller's absence, sprained her ankle early in the Simi Valley tournament, however, leaving the Indians without a go-to scorer entering the semifinals.

That's when Munroe took Boller's call and Boller answered her team's call.

``She was afraid she would miss all of her shots because she hadn't practiced,'' said point guard Jelene Daney.

No need to worry. In two games, Boller made 16 of 21 shots and dominated inside against strong Channel Islands and St. Lucy's teams.

``That tournament showed that we need Candace so bad,'' Daney said. ``She's an awesome player.''