Newbury Park Kicks Off Five

Five players on the Newbury Park High boys’ basketball team have been dismissed for violating school rules earlier this week while participating in a tournament in Las Vegas.

A source close to the team said juniors Aaron Bobik and Adam Carlson and seniors Shane Hosac, David Kent and Ryan Wire were dismissed for drinking alcohol. Newbury Park Coach Steve Johnson wouldn’t comment on that.

“I’m very disappointed,” Johnson said. “It’s something that you just hope and pray won’t happen. It’s devastating to the program, and the kids involved and the other kids on the team.”

Johnson said Newbury Park forfeited a game to Las Vegas Palo Verde on Tuesday because the Panthers had only four healthy players after the dismissals. The Panthers (4-4) took 10 players to the 64-team tournament. Senior forward John Harris came down with the flu after a first-round victory over Las Vegas Rancho on Saturday and didn’t play in a loss to Bakersfield on Monday.

Johnson said several players will be promoted from the junior varsity to fill out the roster for the Atascadero tournament that starts Tuesday.

He also said that Newbury Park probably wouldn’t go back to the Las Vegas tournament after playing there for the past three seasons.

“I definitely didn’t enjoy doing what I did,” Johnson said. “But there was never any question that it had to be done.”