California high school basketball team forfeits league title due to ineligible player
A California high school basketball team must surrender its league championship after fielding an ineligible player. Just weeks after Oaks Christian won the Marmonte League title, they must relinquish it after forfeiting three league games and two nonleague matches.
As Dominic Massimino of the Ventura County Star reported, Oaks Christian administrators discovered the violation on March 5. Brad Cook, the school’s Director of Athletics, reported it to the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section.
After reporting the violation to the CIF, head coach Mark Amaral informed the team of the situation, stating that while the player had zero impact on the results, rules are rules.
The three league games that Oaks Christian forfeited include their 49-40 victory over Westlake, which won them the 2025-26 Marmonte League championship. Agoura and Newbury Park also had their losses against the Lions reversed. There is no word yet on the two nonleague games that the Lions forfeited.
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These decisions altered the league standings, with Westlake in first place at 7-3. Therefore, the Warriors won another league championship since tying with the Lions in the 2023-24 California high school basketball season. It’s also their first outright title since 2020.
Conversely, Oaks Christian falls to fourth place, while Thousand Oaks and Calabasas are tied in second. Similarly, the Lions’ overall record dropped from 23-6 to 18-11, and their Marmonte record went from 8-2 to 5-5.
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