Bobik Comes Close to Perfect Season

NEWBURY PARK — Ask Daniel Bobik of the Newbury Park High boys’ basketball team what he’ll remember most about the 1997-98 season and the answer comes quickLY.

Almost as quick as the time it takes him to steal the ball at the top of the key and throw down a two-handed dunk at the other end.

“I’ll always cherish how close our team was,” Bobik said. “I’ll never forget hanging out with those guys. Beating Simi Valley and going undefeated in league is something I’ll always remember, but the thing I’ll remember most is the coaching staff, and the players and how hard we worked together.”

Simi Valley, with its talented trio of 6-foot-9 junior Rafael Berumen, 6-4 sophomore Branduinn Fullove and 6-6 sophomore Brett Michel, was a prohibitive favorite to win the Marmonte League title. But Newbury Park (24-5) defeated the Pioneers twice in league on its way to a 14-0 record and its first outright league crown since 1981.

Simi Valley beat Newbury Park, 72-54, in the semifinals of the Simi Valley tournament in December, but the Panthers defeated the Pioneers, 73-71, in January, and, 51-44, in February.

The Brigham Young-bound Bobik scored 24 points in the first league game against Simi Valley and had 28 points, 12 rebounds and eight steals in the second league game with the Pioneers, a performance that sealed his selection as The Times’ Ventura County player of the year.

“[Being picked to finish behind Simi Valley] motivated us every single day,” Bobik said. “We knew that the only way we were going to beat them was to work harder than them.”

No one worked harder than the 6-6, 180-pound Bobik. Newbury Park’s career scoring leader averaged 20.6 points, 8.4 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 4.6 steals a game this season while leading the Panthers into the second round of the Southern Section Division II-A playoffs.

Although Newbury Park was upset by Channel League champion Dos Pueblos, 48-47, the disappointment of that loss couldn’t lessen the satisfaction of winning the league title by three games over Simi Valley.

With his high school career over, Bobik is looking forward to starting a two-year mission for the Mormon Church in July before attending classes at the picturesque BYU campus in the fall of 2000.

He doesn’t plan to play much basketball during his mission, but he isn’t worried about his skills deteriorating.

“I think it will be good for me,” Bobik said. “It will be good for me to change what I’m doing and to change my chain of thought. So much of my thinking has been basketball, basketball, basketball in the last couple of years and this will give me a chance to serve the Lord and not worry about taking my 200 shots every day.”