Rancho Alamitos Girls Barred From Tournaments for ‘91-92

A schedule foul-up that forced the Rancho Alamitos High School girls’ basketball team to skip the Bolsa Grande tournament last month or surpass the Southern Section-imposed limit of 20 games for the season has come back to haunt the team.

Robert Mesa, the principal at Rancho Alamitos, said the team has been suspended by the section from participating in any tournaments during the 1991-92 season.

The problem developed when Rancho Alamitos, which had signed a contract to send its unbeaten (currently 12-0 and ranked fourth) varsity squad to play at the Bolsa Grande tournament, instead had to send its junior varsity team to avoid playing more than the 20 games allowed.

“That’s the price we pay for not being able to add,” Mesa said. “We didn’t have a copy of the contract and got our schedules mixed up.”

Mesa said Coach Bob Becker overlooked the scheduling surplus.

“(He) just didn’t keep track of the schedule. It’s one of those things that happens,” Mesa said.

The Vaqueros had won the Hacienda Heights Wilson and Savanna tournaments before the mix-up.