Narbonne Denied in Appeal for Title

The Harbor City Narbonne girls’ basketball team on Wednesday lost an appeal to have its City 4-A championship reinstated and could be in jeopardy of losing its state Division I title as well.

A three-member section appeals panel upheld all parts of the April 17 decision of the City Section’s rules committee that stripped the Gauchos of their title after determining that the team has used ineligible players. The girls’ basketball program also was ruled ineligible for the playoffs next season, was put on two years’ probation and three players were ruled ineligible for one year because of residence issues.

Junior Portia Mitchell and sophomore Raimi Mitchell, who are sisters, were ruled ineligible retroactive to March 2. Sophomore Syreeta Stafford was ruled ineligible retroactive to Feb. 20.

Narbonne administrators, girls’ basketball Coach James Anderson, Janice Mitchell--the mother of the Mitchell sisters--and Frank Williams, an attorney representing the Mitchells, made their appeal at a meeting on Tuesday and presented additional documentation to counter allegations about the players’ residences. Section Commissioner Barbara Fiege also was present at the hearing.

“We had to give it a great deal of thought, but looking at all the evidence and weighing it relative to their presentation and the finding of the [rules] committee, we upheld the sanctions,” said deputy superintendent Francis Nakano, who served on the panel, along with assistant superintendent Dan Isaacs and Belmont High Principal Augustine Herrera. “If there were any gray areas, we would have looked at those items.”

Anderson said he was “shocked” by the appeals panel’s ruling, and that he had expected at least some modification of the penalties. He also said that Narbonne will appeal the decision to the state office of the California Interscholastic Federation and will go to court, if necessary.

“Why do these people think that our principal and everybody is lying?” Anderson said. “We gave them an electric bill, rental receipts and other documentation. We gave them the paperwork they asked for.”

Jack Hayes, executive director of the state CIF, could not be reached Wednesday, but on April 17 he said that Narbonne could lose its state title if all of its appeals fail.

Jim Duel, a spokesman for the CIF, said an appeal to the state office “could take some time, maybe extending into August.”