Peninsula Starts New Era With Win : L.A. Games: Boys’ basketball team defeats La Mirada, 41-39, in athletic debut for the new high school.

A new era was launched Saturday afternoon at the 24th L.A. Watts Summer Games when the Peninsula High boys’ basketball team bounded onto the court for the first time.

And the newly christened Panthers enjoyed a successful debut by edging La Mirada, 41-39, in a first-round game played at Banning High. Peninsula plays Flintridge at noon today in a second-round game at Banning.

Budget constraints and a declining enrollment prompted district officials to consolidate Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills and Miraleste students under the Peninsula High flag. The school won’t open until September, but the athletic programs got a head start in the L.A. Games.

“There’s been constant planning and we’ve been busy doing a lot of things to get ready at the new high school site,” said Peninsula boys’ basketball Coach John Mihaljevich, who spent 25 years coaching the Palos Verdes program.

“It probably would have been more difficult if we hadn’t been able to do some of those preliminary things. But we’ve been busy, marking the floors, changing the name, ordering practice jerseys, making up the schedules. There’s been enough transition things taking place that it’s not that much of a shock.”

Mihaljevich’s challenge is to foster harmony among players who are accustomed to competing against each other. Saturday was the first test.

Former Palos Verdes center John Anthony scored a team-high 14 points, Frank White, who attended Miraleste last year, added 12 and former Rolling Hills playmaker David Iwasaki contributed six assists.

“At first, it was weird getting to know everybody,” White said. “You get used to it, but there’s still some adjustment because you’re not completely used to it. It’s great, though. They’re all nice guys and we’re all friends.”

Said Anthony: “We played together in the spring and a lot of us know each other from playing together when we were younger. There used to be a big rivalry among the schools, but it was never anything personal. The players were all friends--just not during the games.”

Mihaljevich brought longtime assistant Mike Boyd with him to Peninsula and also hired former Miraleste coach Todd Mirsky as an assistant. He said he tried finding a Rolling Hills representative but was unsuccessful.

In September, the coaching staff will have its hands full trying to whittle down the roster, which is full of talented players.

The Panthers sprinted out to a 24-13 halftime lead against La Mirada, then held on for the victory.

In other boys’ basketball games Saturday, Inglewood beat Canyon, 65-61, and will play Culver City today at 9 a.m. Other winners include Hawthorne, St. Bernard, San Pedro, Gardena, Bishop Montgomery, South Torrance and El Segundo.

Top-seeded Westchester and Morningside and Carson had first-round byes and will play this morning.

In girls’ basketball, top-seeded Peninsula defeated Arroyo, 46-17, and will play Artesia today at 9 a.m. in the Locke gymnasium. Fourth-seeded Morningside beat Muir, 77-29, and will play Rancho Alamitos today at 9 a.m. at L.A. High.

Other girls’ basketball winners include North Torrance, St. Bernard and Bishop Montgomery.

The Carson football team, which has a new coaches for the first time in 28 years, defeated Westchester, 27-20, in first-round play. Marty Blakenship and Jim D’Amore have taken over for the retired Gene Vollnogle.

Morningside shutout Salesian, 20-0, to advance to third-round action. South Torrance advanced with victories over Basset and Arcadia.

In boys’ soccer, Peninsula advanced and will play Bishop Amat today. Bishop Amat advanced by defeating Banning.

In girls’ volleyball, Mira Costa beat El Segundo and Peninsula edged Los Altos. San Pedro and Bishop Montgomery had first-round byes and play each other today at noon at El Camino College.

Westchester routed Pomona, 17-3, in baseball and San Pedro edged Rubidoux, 2-1, in girls’ softball.