Athlete of the Week: If CdM’s in trouble, it’s Kobrine Time

Ryan Schachter says Sam Kobrine is one of the most skilled basketball players he has coached during his 10 seasons at Corona del Mar High.

Kobrine can jump. He can shoot. He can handle the ball. He can pass. He can defend.

There is one aspect of Kobrine’s game that separates him from the other talented players who have suited up for Schachter. Kobrine can take over a game when his team needs him to, whether it is to put away a team or rally CdM from a double-digit deficit.

Most recently, CdM has asked Kobrine to carry the team to huge comeback wins. And the senior guard has been clutch in those situations.

Kobrine came through for the Sea Kings last week in the biggest game in the Back Bay, the Battle of the Bay. No lead was safe at Newport Harbor, not the 13-point lead in the second quarter, not the 12-point lead in the third quarter, and not the nine-point lead in the fourth quarter.

Kobrine finally caught the Sailors with 49 seconds to go, driving to the left for a basket to tie the game. There would only be another successful shot on the night, and it belonged to Kobrine.

With seven seconds left, Kobrine gave CdM its first lead in the game. Kobrine hit a dagger, a game-winning three-pointer to elevate the Sea Kings to a 51-48 win.

If there was a time for Newport Harbor to beat CdM in the rivalry for the first time since the 2005-06 season, this was it. Kobrine didn’t oblige, though.

“I feel like that shows a lot about our [team],” Kobrine said. “It shows that our team is able to fight back.”

The visiting fans almost carried the 6-foot-3 Kobrine out of the gym on their shoulders. He performed at both ends of the court, holding the Sailors’ top offensive threat, Charlie Stassel, to eight points, seven below his season average.

It was in the fourth quarter where Kobrine poured in 12 of his 21 points. By himself, Kobrine outscored Newport Harbor by four points in the last eight minutes.

Kobrine only needed the final 4½ minutes to accomplish the feat, a stretch in which he caught fire, making four of six shots. He took two three-pointers and made each one, giving him three threes for the game.

The Sea Kings had witnessed this type of eruption by Kobrine before, on Dec. 30, in the fifth-place game at the Kentfield Marin Catholic Don Bambauer Memorial Holiday Classic. In that one, the Sea Kings stormed back from a 21-point third-quarter deficit, watching Kobrine produce a career-high 30 points and five three-pointers to lead CdM to an 84-81 overtime win against San Anselmo Drake.

“The [games] he had against Drake and Newport Harbor [were] incredible, considering how he just took over both games in the fourth quarter and led us to come-from-behind wins,” Schachter said.

The only thing stopping Kobrine in the first three quarters against Drake was foul trouble. When he returned, Kobrine recorded 16 points in the fourth against Drake, and he scored all of CdM’s seven points in overtime.

Kobrine’s troubles against Newport Harbor involved his shot. It wasn’t falling, only two of his 10 shots went in during the first half. He even missed a wide-open layup on a fastbreak after coming up with one of his five steals.

“I got a little tired there running around and jumping,” Kobrine said with a laugh.

The home fans mocked Kobrine for missing the easy layup, but he had the last laugh. He led CdM to its eighth straight win against the Sailors, three of which he has been a part of.

Kobrine is used to beating Newport Harbor. He’s done it twice during the boys’ volleyball season.

Kobrine is a standout on both the basketball and volleyball courts. He earned Daily Pilot Newport-Mesa Dream Team honors in both sports last season.

But volleyball is the sport Kobrine said he excels at the most. Volleyball is what he plans to play in college, most likely as a setter. He is heading to UCLA, the same school his father, David Kobrine, attended and played basketball during the early 1980s.

“I’ve been around UCLA for my whole life,” said Kobrine, adding that he was also talking to the USC, UC Santa Barbara, Loyola Chicago and Ohio State men’s volleyball programs. “I was raised a Bruins fan, so it was kind of a no-brainer for me [to pick UCLA].”

Before graduating from CdM in the spring, Kobrine wants a prize that eluded him on the basketball and volleyball court as a junior. Last season, his basketball team finished as the CIF Southern Section Division 3A runner-up and his volleyball team was the CIF Southern Section Division 1 runner-up.

“We got there,” Kobrine said of the section finals appearances. “We didn’t end up winning it. I feel like it would be a fun and a good experience to win one.”

The Sea Kings, ranked No. 4 in the Division 3A poll, have some work to do before claiming their first section crown since Schachter’s first season in 2006-07. They have to take care of business and defend their Pacific Coast League title to secure one of the top four seeds in the postseason.

Kobrine helped CdM get off to a good start in league, finishing with eight points, six rebounds and three steals in a 74-44 rout at Woodbridge last week. Then CdM dropped its next league contest, a first in quite some time, to drop to 13-5 overall and 1-1 in league. Beckman ended the Sea Kings’ 12-game winning streak in league, pulling out a 55-50 victory at CdM on Wednesday.

“I remember going back to my sophomore year they [were the last team in league to] beat us,” said Kobrine, referring to the game at Beckman on Feb. 11, 2014, when the Patriots edged CdM, 43-42. “We didn’t really show up to play [on Wednesday]. You can’t really do that against a good team [like Beckman, which is ranked No. 9 in Division 1A, because it’s] going to make you pay.”

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Sam Kobrine

Born: May 26, 1998

Hometown: Newport Beach

Height: 6-foot-3

Weight: 170 pounds

Sport: Basketball

Year: Senior

Coach: Ryan Schachter

Favorite food: Steak

Favorite movie: “The Usual Suspects”

Favorite athletic moment: “Winning the Battle of the Bay.”

Week in review: Kobrine hit the game-winning three-pointer and finished with 21 points, lifting CdM to a 51-48 come-from-behind win at Newport Harbor in the Battle of the Bay rivalry game. He also finished with eight points, six rebounds and three steals in the Sea Kings’ 74-44 blowout win in a Pacific Coast League opener at Woodbridge.