City Panel Rules in Sylmar’s Favor

A City Section appeal panel has ruled that Sylmar does not have to forfeit six boys’ basketball league victories, Spartan Coach Bort Escoto said, clearing the way for Sylmar to enter the City Championship playoffs, which begin Wednesday.

Sylmar, which had won the Valley Mission League title, discovered it left a player off its eligibility form because of an administrative error.

Escoto said Sylmar officials cited a precedent two years ago when a girls’ softball team entered the playoffs after an administrative error led to a player’s being ruled ineligible and the subsequent forfeits were lifted. L.A. City Councilman Alex Padilla and Reseda Coach Mike Wagner spoke to the three-person appeal panel on behalf of Sylmar.

Eric Sondheimer

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Lawndale Leuzinger will not be eligible for the Southern Section playoffs after forfeiting 13 victories -- five league games -- for using an ineligible player, Leuzinger Athletic Director Erich Tucker said. With the forfeits, the Olympians fall to 1-25, 1-12 in the Ocean League, heading into Thursday’s final game against South Torrance. Tucker would not identify the player and would not say why he was ineligible.

Dan Arritt

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Girls’ Basketball

Manhattan Beach Mira Costa won’t qualify for the girls’ basketball playoffs after forfeiting eight victories and finishing 9-18 after a 55-50 loss to North Torrance on Thursday.

According to Athletic Director Bob Fish, an out-of-state transfer student left Los Angeles Fairfax for Mira Costa when her mother left the Southland but arranged for a guardian who lived in the Manhattan Beach Unified School District. The student had proper documentation to enter Mira Costa, but not proper clearance for athletic eligibility.

Rialto Eisenhower can rest easy knowing it has done all that it could to ensure its best positioning in the Southern Section Division I-AA playoffs, for which pairings will be released Sunday. The Eagles (20-7, 9-1) won their third consecutive Citrus Belt League title with a 57-43 victory Thursday over Redlands East Valley (17-10, 8-2), avenging a 73-51 loss on Jan. 27. The Eagles, ranked seventh in the section poll, will go into the playoffs as a first-place team.

Another school that improved its positioning for the playoffs was No. 12 Moreno Valley Canyon Springs, which defeated No. 10 Riverside North, 66-61, to steal a share of the Ivy League title. Canyon Springs (21-4, 9-1) had been ranked fourth in the Division I-A poll, but with its win over North (23-4, 9-1) could move to second or third.

Ventura (22-1), which had been ranked No. 1 in the division, was beaten Monday by Ventura Buena, 51-42, opening the door for San Clemente (21-4) or Newhall Hart (24-1) to be considered for the top seeding.

Martin Henderson

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Boys’ Soccer

Westlake Village Westlake is on a roll entering the Southern Section Division II playoffs that start Friday.

The Warriors (15-7-2, 10-3-1) had shutouts in four of their last five games in Marmonte League play, including a 1-0 victory over visiting Simi Valley Royal on Thursday.

Royal (20-2-4, 10-1-3), the top-ranked team in the Southland by The Times, entered that game with a 17-game unbeaten streak. But Westlake’s Israel Higuera scored midway through the second half on a free kick from about 10 yards.

The victory put Westlake in a tie for third place with Calabasas, but the Warriors will get the league’s third -- and final -- automatic entry into the Division II playoffs because they were 1-0-1 against Calabasas this season.

“We went into the [Royal] game looking at it as a must win,” Westlake Coach Bill Propster said. “You don’t want to assume you’re going to get an at-large berth [as a fourth-place team] in the playoffs.”

John Ortega

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Football

Tim O’Hara, former Anaheim Savanna coach, has been hired as head coach at San Juan Capistrano Serra.

O’Hara, who had a 10-19 record in three seasons with the Rebels, replaces Armando Gonzalez, who resigned after one season to become the coach at Dana Point Dana Hills. Serra played a non-varsity schedule in 2003.

-- Bob Rohwer