Thousand Oaks opens some eyes with fast start

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Every year there’s always one Ventura County basketball team that makes a statement early in the season with either a couple of surprising upsets or a few unexplainable losses. It’s inevitable, a right of passage. And it just so happens Thousand Oaks is that team after opening up Marmonte League play with, get this, three consecutive victories.

We’re talking about a team that lost several key starters from a season ago, including Bobby Macias and Jake Poppen, and wasn’t expected to make much of an impact in the standings. Now, with games against Calabasas and Agoura looming, there’s a possibility the Lancers could go 5-0 in league play by the time the season nears the midway point.

There’s no way of telling if Thousand Oaks is for real until it plays the likes of preseason favorite Simi Valley, No. 20 in The Times’ preseason rankings. In fact, the two have a showdown on Jan. 11. By then we should know whether the Lancers are contenders or pretenders.

--Sean Ceglinsky