Lack of oversight results in forfeits

Despite the good intentions of coaches on both sides, Newport Harbor had to forfeit its water polo victory over Coronado of San Diego. And it had to relinquish a tournament championship, too.

Here is what happened:

Two Newport Harbor players were ejected during the S & R Sport Water Polo Cup quarterfinals. As stated in CIF-Southern Section rule 3019 in the Blue Book's water polo section: "Any player who is ejected for any reason shall be disqualified from participating in the remainder of the game and will be ineligible for the team's next contest."

The two Newport Harbor players were ineligible for the next game, the semifinal against Coronado on Saturday. But they played against Coronado for one period. Coronado could have won by forfeit and advanced to the championship game, but Coronado coach Randy Burgess did not want his team to win that way. So the Coronado-Newport Harbor game was restarted, and Newport Harbor won to advance to the S & R final.

Those players who were supposed to be suspended for the Coronado game played in the final against Miramonte of Orinda, and they should not have as the Coronado-Harbor game became a forfeited game. Sitting out a forfeited game does not fulfill the requirement of a one-game suspension, which also is clearly stated in rule 3019. So Newport Harbor, by rule, had to forfeit the Miramonte game, too, because ineligible Harbor players participated in it.

Newport Harbor coach Jason Lynch was not trying to pull a fast one on Coronado or Miramonte. Burgess understood that it was only a mistake. But rules have to be followed.

As often happens when a team has to forfeit games, this was the fault of an adult who should have been better aware of the situation. The athletes who were not subject to suspension did nothing against the rules, yet they suffered the consequences.

Lynch and Burgess tried to do what was best for those athletes, but there are many educational opportunities within interscholastic athletes, and one of them is following rules.

Taking a look around Orange County high school sports:

•Bad news about an excellent football player: Western senior running back/linebacker Ruben Ortega underwent surgery Monday that inserted a rod into his left leg. Ortega suffered a fractured fibula and tibia from being tackled in the Pioneers' loss last week to Marina at Westminster High. Ortega was the Orange League Player of the Year as a sophomore and junior and has been an All-County selection, too. "He was having a great season," Western coach Toby Howell said, "and we all feel very badly for him."

•Mater Dei senior offensive tackle Chris Ward practiced all week and participated in every repetition with the first string in preparation for tonight's Mater Dei-Orange Lutheran game at Orange Coast College. Ward suffered a knee contusion during the nonleague part of the season, and Monarchs coach Bruce Rollinson is convinced Ward's use of a knee brace limited the extent of the injury. Like many coaches, Rollinson insists linemen wear high-quality braces on their knees every game and, he said, "for every practice, or we send them off the field and back to the training room to brace up."

•For information on getting The Orange County Football Book, an outstanding publication with historical data and stories about county football, from high school to the NFL, go to ocfootballbook.com. Cost is $25, which includes shipping and handling, and there is a price break for purchases of multiple copies.

•The boys basketball team at Tarbut V'Torah, a Jewish school in Irvine, gets to play at Staples Center on Tuesday. The Lions will play Shalhevet of Los Angeles at 3 p.m.; later that evening the Clippers play against Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv, Israel's best professional basketball team. Because the Tarbut-Shalhevet game is not included in the admission ticket to the Maccabi-Clippers game, and so is considered a separate event, the CIF-Southern Section views it as being like a fall-league game, according to CIF-SS assistant commissioner Rainer Wulf.

•Correction: Mater Dei boys basketball player Tyler Lamb committed to UCLA, not USC. Trust me, I really do know the difference.