AROUND THE LEAGUES : Cleveland Loses Leading Scorer as Albert Fann Can’t Make the Grade

Cleveland will take the court tonight against Fairfax without forward Albert Fann, who is academically ineligible after flunking a geometry class.

“I’m still going to school and will begin lifting weights for football,” said Fann, who has been recruited by Division I football teams. Fann scored 747 on the SAT test--satisfying NCAA requirements--but he must improve his grade-point average before he can compete in Division I athletics.

Fann is Cleveland’s leading scorer with an average of 12.5 points per game. He also averaged 7.2 rebounds. The loss of Fann will be felt against Fairfax, which already enjoys a significant height advantage over the Cavaliers.

It was Cleveland’s strategy to attempt to slow Sean Higgins in two games against Fairfax this season. Although Higgins, who is averaging 24 points, had subpar outings, the Cavaliers were beaten both times because of Chris Mills. The 6-7 junior totaled 58 points and 32 rebounds. Coach Bob Braswell has changed the strategy for tonight’s meeting. “Right now, Chris is the guy to stop,” he said.

Cleveland (13-2, 6-1) did not play last week and has had nearly two weeks to prepare for the unbeaten Lions (17-0, 8-0). . . . Cleveland guard Damon Greer, who has played in only four games this season, will return to the lineup. After injuring a wrist early in the season, Greer came back for three games only to injure his right ankle. “The wrist is 80%,” Braswell said. “It hurts his ball-handling and his shot. This has been tough because I believe Damon is perhaps the best guard in the City.”. . . Leon Ware, Kennedy’s third-leading scorer, disappeared from the lineup for two weeks but will be back in uniform Friday against El Camino Real. Coach Yutaka Shimizu held out Ware, who is averaging 11.3 points a game, for disciplinary reasons. . . . Taft forward Darren Kolinsky will miss today’s game against Hamilton because of a sprained right ankle, leaving Taft with only seven players. . . . Corey Thurman, third guard at El Camino Real, is academically ineligible. . . . Anthony Pedro, a 6-3 forward from Van Nuys, academically ineligible all season, has joined the team and will start.

Football moves: Lindon Crow, a three-time NFL All-Pro, will retire from his post as St. Genevieve football coach after fulfilling his contract through the 1987 season. Crow, 53, who played for the Cardinals, Bears, Giants and Rams from 1955 to ‘64, is constructing a home near Cedar City, Utah. “I thought it would be a good idea to retire while my wife and I are still able to get out and enjoy things,” Crow said. St. Genevieve has advanced to the playoffs eight times in 11 seasons under Crow, who has a .670 winning percentage. . . . Citing personal reasons, Dave Gross has resigned as the Saugus football coach and will serve next season as an assistant at Quartz Hill, where he now teaches.

What goes around comes around: Poly girls basketball Coach Mark Erwin had better be careful not to press too hard in the future. Much to the dislike of Sylmar Coach Byron Prophet, Erwin’s junior varsity squad kept up a half-court press for the entire game against Sylmar on Friday, even though Poly won the game handily, 35-7. “I was upset,” Prophet said. “You don’t pick on a team.” Prophet decided to repay Poly--with interest. Sylmar’s varsity team pressed the entire game and scored a school-record 90 points in a 90-26 victory. “Normally we wouldn’t do that,” said Prophet, who later explained the situation to Sylmar’s principal. “But I explained to the girls that sometimes you have to pay people back and you do it legitimately.”

Back again: Chatsworth basketball Coach Gary Shair was “pleased as punch” when Kendell McDaniels showed up for practice Tuesday. McDaniels had quit the team last Friday and said he would transfer to Kennedy, where he played last season, because he thought his mother was moving to the Kennedy district. But McDaniels (6-5), who signed with St. Mary’s in November, returned when his mother decided to stay put. Shair said McDaniels, who averages 16 points and nine rebounds per game, will start today against Birmingham.

Happy birthday: When Dominic Nappi made a free throw with three seconds left to give North Hollywood a 59-58 win over Van Nuys on Friday, it gave Nappi several reasons to celebrate. First, he made the free throw after missing on his first attempt. Second, it kept the Huskies in first place in the East Valley League. The win also avenged a 55-54 loss to Van Nuys last month. Nappi had one more reason to feel festive: It was his 17th birthday. The loss was no surprise party for Van Nuys, however. It rekindled a strange pattern: of Van Nuys’ nine losses, six have been by three points or fewer. . . . When Granada Hills defeated Monroe, 105-67, on Friday, it was the first time the Highlanders have broken 100-points since 1976.

Prayer answered: Demetrius Jones, Calabasas’ center who was recuperating from ankle surgery, played his first two games last week and averaged eight points and seven rebounds. “I’ve been praying for him to come back,” said Steve Ward, Calabasas’ leading scorer. . . . In Calabasas’ 58-55 win over Nordhoff on Friday, Ward scored only eight points, 17 below his average. But he was injured three minutes into the game and played only two minutes of the second before being ejected after a dispute with an official. Without Ward, Calabasas fell behind, 28-20, at halftime before rallying. . . . Although Faith Baptist (6-11, 3-6) has had a disappointing season, the team has built a solid foundation for the future. Leading scorer Shaik Nabi (15.3) and top rebounder Rich Leon (9.1) are juniors. Jason Henderson (6-8), who averages 7.1 rebounds, and assist leader David Hairston (5.3), the nephew of former Laker forward Happy Hairston, are sophomores. . . . Bell-Jeff has filed a protest with the Santa Fe League office following last Thursday’s 72-69 overtime loss to Cathedral. Although Bell-Jeff Coach Joe Dunn would not discuss the details, he said the protest concerns a call by an official in the final 17 seconds of the overtime period.