The Lancers’ path to the playoffs started all the way back in November and December, bonding as a team at road tournaments.
Now almost four months later, TO finds itself with a playoff home game on Wednesday at 7 p.m. against ML King High of Riverside.
“The ups of the season were all the away tournaments and having fun with the team,” junior Luke Koren told the Lancer.
TO was able to take advantage of the playoff-like atmospheres that away tournaments provide, starting the season off 14-1.
Star senior Elias Chin was able to not only bring a championship to Thousand Oaks but also earn himself numerous accolades, including multiple all-tournament teams, as he became one of the few all-time Lancers to amass 1,000 career points, before he capped off the regular season as the all-time Lancer leader in rebounds as well as assists.
After opening the Marmonte League season with a sparkling 6-1 mark, the Lancers lost at Westlake on Jan. 26 and then fell into second place. However the Lancers finished out league play with two commanding victories that led to their share in the league title.
However this league title did not come easy, as on the final night of play, the Lancers were not only needing to beat cross-town rival Newbury Park, but also kept eyes on the Oaks Christian vs. Westlake game, as an OC victory would give all three teams a share of the league title. The Lions ultimately defeated the Warriors in triple-overtime, with some Lancers in attendance following their win over Newbury Park.
“We relaxed the last two games, refreshed and had fun,” junior Trent MacLean said. “We had senior night and then we got everyone in the last game. We believed that Oaks would beat Westlake and that everything would end up working out because we worked really hard for the championship.”
With the league title stake, Thousand Oaks was awarded a first-round home playoff game against the ML King Wolves in Division-2AA. The Wolves finished the regular season 12-19 behind leading scorers Jeremiah Davis and Mathias Tinker.