Defeat Is the Least of Palos Verdes’ Sadness : L.A. Games: Defending Division III girls’ basketball champions lose to Gahr--and soon they will lose their school.

When the final buzzer sounded after the game Saturday, it signified more than simply the end of Palos Verdes High’s run in the L.A. Watts Summer Games girls’ basketball tournament. It also signified the last game to be played under the Palos Verdes name.

Starting this fall, Palos Verdes will be combined with Rolling Hills and Miraleste High schools to form one large school called Peninsula High. Palos Verdes High will cease to exist. No more championship banners will be earned. The school’s gym no longer will be filled with cheerleaders or parents screaming at the top of their lungs for their players. There will be only silence.

“It’s really sad,” junior guard Joanna Whitley said after the 35-20 loss to Gahr at Locke High.

“It will feel strange playing for a different school, and having new players on the team.”

There won’t be that many new players, however. At least seven players from Palos Verdes will compete for the Peninsula squad, according to assistant coach Geoff Guerrero.

“Everyone was upset about changing schools at first,” Guerrero said after the game, “but as time went on, the kids began to accept it. Of course, there’s not much we could do about it, so there was no choice but to accept it.”

Last year, the school won the Division III state championship--making its loss to Gahr Saturday surprising to some. It wasn’t a surprise to Guerrero.

“We decided to use this summer tournament as our exhibition season,” he said.

“It allowed us to get to know the new players and see if they can jell together. By traveling together to the games, all the players were able to get to know each other and form a sense of team unity.”

Because of the increase in attendance from the combination of the three schools, next season the team will be elevated to Division I, in which the competition is bigger and tougher. The team from Gahr held a definite height and weight advantage that allowed it to dominate the boards.

“We will definitely run into trouble in the fall,” Guerrero said.

“We were very fortunate to advance this far at the Watts Games. Gahr is one of the top teams in the region, but our girls are tough and hung in there.”

What will become of the girls who were only good enough to be one of the last people off the bench for one of the three schools to be consolidated?

“It’s true that some girls will miss out, but that won’t be a big problem for girls basketball,” Guerrero said.

“Not a lot of girls come out for the team anyway, but it will really be tough for the larger sports like football and baseball. Unfortunately, the students are usually the last ones taken into consideration when decisions about schools are made.”

So come this fall, don’t bother checking the paper for results from Miraleste High. Or from Rolling Hills High. Or from Palos Verdes High. The record book is closed on these schools. There won’t be any more exciting victories or heartbreaking defeats. The Division III state title will not be defended.

“I guess the titles aren’t the important thing,” Whitley said as she sold candy bars in the stands to raise money for her new school.

“The important thing is that we all go out and have fun. Still, it would have been nice to win back-to-back championships under the Palos Verdes name.”

Nice indeed. But nice guys often finish last, at least when it comes to school budgets.