St. Bonaventure has an 11-2 record, but...

St. Bonaventure has an 11-2 record, but Oak Park (10-6) will be the team to beat when Tri-Valley League play opens tonight with games between Fillmore (3-10) and Bishop Diego (7-8), and Oak Park and Carpinteria (7-7).

So says Coach Gil Kim of St. Bonaventure, which opens league play against Bishop Diego on Friday.

“I really think that Oak Park should be the favorite,” Kim said. “They’ve looked real good and they’ve played a tough schedule. I see Bishop Diego, us and Carpinteria closely bunched behind them.”

So does Coach John Ward of Bishop Diego.

“St. Bonaventure is a good team,” Ward said. “But they haven’t played the type of schedule that Oak Park has.”

*

Newbury Park was rocked by controversy last month when Coach Steve Johnson dismissed five players from the squad for violating team rules in a tournament in Las Vegas, yet the Panthers (9-5, 3-0) are sitting atop the Marmonte League standings heading into games tonight.

Juniors Aaron Bobik and Adam Carlson and seniors Shane Hosac, David Kent and Ryan Wire were kicked off the team for drinking alcohol, according to a source close to the team, but Newbury Park has posted a 5-1 record since.

“We’ve been able to feel like we were kind of starting over,” Johnson said.

“The older guys have done a good job blending in with the new guys on the court.”

Junior Justin Christensen, freshman Randy Meru and sophomores Rudy Flores and Chris Randall were brought up from the junior varsity after the dismissals of the other players, joining veterans such as senior Will Svitek, a three-year letterman and two-year starter.

Newbury Park, which has a bye tonight, will be challenged Friday when it hosts Simi Valley (13-2, 2-0), the No. 1-ranked team in the region by The Times.

*

Although Bobik and Carlson were dismissed from Newbury Park’s team for the remainder of the season, Johnson said they’re welcome to come back next season when they’ll be seniors.

Bobik, a 6-foot-3 guard who missed all of his sophomore season with a broken hand, is the brother of Daniel Bobik, The Times’ 1997-98 Ventura County player of the year, and Brian Bobik, an all-county selection last year.

*

Agoura was expected to contend for a top-three finish in the Marmonte League at the start of the season, but the Chargers (2-14, 0-3) have been hard hit by injuries.

Andrew Morrow, a 6-2 senior forward, underwent arthroscopic knee surgery in October and didn’t start playing again until mid-December.

Junior Brent Spaulding, a reserve point guard, missed a month with a hip injury.

Junior Adam Allegro, a 6-4 forward and the team’s leading scorer at 13.2 points a game, has missed the last six games because of a sprained ankle.

“The injuries have really affected our offensive game,” Coach Bill Sanchez said.

“Our offensive game has been so terrible.”