District’s Rule Lacks Balance

The return of 6-foot-9 center Jim Newton early in the season from a suspension was a strong factor in Newbury Park High winning the Marmonte League boys’ basketball championship and advancing to the third round of the playoffs.

But even if his impact had been minimal, the school made the proper decision allowing him to play.

In August, Newton violated a code of conduct that all athletes in the Conejo Valley Unified School District must agree to follow. His punishment: the loss of varsity eligibility for one calendar year.

Newton plays football and basketball, so originally he was to miss two sports. The code provides no exceptions for a multi-sport athlete.

After Newton sat out the football season, Newbury Park administrators rightly determined that he had been punished sufficiently and allowed him to play basketball.

The policy is not followed uniformly throughout the district, however, as former Thousand Oaks basketball and baseball player Robbie Cassel discovered.

Cassel, a senior, violated the code last May. He sat out the basketball season and appealed to play baseball this spring, pointing out the ruling on Newton to bolster his case.

Appeal denied.

The administrators passed the buck, from the school to the top of the district and back down. It was a stall worthy of any basketball team protecting a lead.

Cassel, meanwhile, is earning all A’s and Bs in honors classes, serves as editor-in-chief of the school newspaper and has become more active in his church.

“I’m just trying to forget about sports, but it still hurts when I think about not playing,” he said.

There is no question the code of conduct must have teeth. Give a violator a full pardon and other athletes would dismiss the code as a joke. But a district-wide policy should be applied evenly except in the most extreme cases.

And an athlete should not serve double the punishment simply because he or she happens to play two sports.

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As 53-point losses go, Newbury Park’s 101-48 defeat against Dominguez, a team ranked No. 1 in the nation at times this season, was only mildly painful.

Panther Coach Steve Johnson has orchestrated a remarkable turnaround in a program noted chiefly for its players’ accomplishments in other sports. The school’s best basketball players in recent years were current Arizona quarterback Keith Smith and Detroit Tigers minor-league catcher Robert Fick.

No longer.

Daniel Bobik, a 6-5 junior guard, is a basketball player from close-cropped hair to swoosh-adorned toe. So is his sharpshooting sophomore brother, Brian.

Buoyed by an uncanny knack for knocking off league favorite Simi Valley (three victories over the Pioneers in the past two seasons), Newbury Park (19-9) earned a share of its first title since 1981.

Johnson, who played at Newbury Park in the 1970s, is liked by his players. Although his clothes are soaked in sweat during games, his voice is calm and his manner evenhanded.

Assisting Johnson this season was Ken Barone, who coached the Panthers in the 1970s and ‘80s before taking over the Ventura College men’s program and later assisting Jim Harrick at UCLA.

“Coach Johnson and Coach Barone turned this program around,” Daniel Bobik said. “They’ve done a great job.”

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As if Daniel and Brian aren’t enough for opponents to contend with, a third Bobik might join them on the varsity next season.

Aaron Bobik, a 5-10 eighth-grader with the same deft shooting touch his brothers possess, could be ready for the varsity as a freshman.

“He’s an animal,” said Sheri Bobik, the boys’ mother. “He has huge hands, huge feet and he loves the game as much as his brothers do.”

Daniel, who led Newbury Park with a 20.2-point average, is ready for a Bobik triple-team.

“That’d be pretty amazing,” he said. “To play with my two younger brothers would be a great way to top off my senior season.”

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Everyone knows Harvard-Westlake, the state’s top-ranked boys’ basketball team, is on track to advance to the state playoffs for the third consecutive season.

Not everyone realizes Montclair Prep is riding the same rail.

The Mounties (20-6) lost their top four scorers from a team that won the Southern Section V-AA title and advanced to the state final last season. But a victory Tuesday over top-seeded Pasadena Poly (25-0) in a semifinal and Montclair Prep is guaranteed another state berth.

The Mounties used a variety of players to defeat Chadwick, 49-47, in the quarterfinals Friday night. Forward Kevin Bentley scored 10 points and three-point shooter Rocky Steryo had eight points in the first half.

The Dolphins held the pair scoreless in the second half, but forward Darin Brock stepped up with 16 of his 17 points. Brock is the Mounties’ only senior.

“He really showed his senior leadership,” Coach Greg Patterson said. “It made the difference.”

Staff writer Michael Lazarus contributed to this column.