PREPS / MITCH POLIN : Surging Inglewood Makes Peninsula Its Latest Victim

Peninsula High Coach John Mihaljevich would be the first to acknowledge the positive strides that the Inglewood boys’ basketball team has made in the past few weeks.

It was on Jan. 15 that Peninsula defeated visiting Inglewood, 50-41, in the Bay League opener for both teams.

So Mihaljevich was not surprised when the Sentinels defeated the visiting Panthers, 75-63, Friday night.

“I would say they’ve improved significantly since the first time we played them,” Mihaljevich said.

Inglewood (15-7 overall, 4-1 in league play) has won five games in a row since the loss to Peninsula. On Wednesday, the Sentinels defeated Santa Monica, 58-56. Inglewood and Santa Monica are now tied for first in the league.

Inglewood Coach Art Bias said Friday’s victory was another sign that his young squad--only one senior starts--is coming of age.

“We have a lot of new ballplayers,” Bias said. “We only have one returning letterman from last year. The personality of this team is such that they’re finally feeling comfortable as a unit.”

The Sentinels used an up-tempo approach against Peninsula.

“The first time we played Peninsula, we were coming off vacation and they had everything going their way,” Bias said. “We played at their place and they were playing very well at the time,” Bias said. “So we kind of slowed things down and kept it at their pace. This time we felt we could run them a little more.”

Senior forward Jimmy Britt led the Sentinels with 23 points. Junior guard Chris White had 17 and junior center Givon Hester added 15.

Bias does not think the Sentinels have played their best game yet. He is hoping that happens Feb. 14 when Inglewood travels to Santa Monica.

“We’re improving every game,” he said. “I think we’re still peaking and we have a long way to go. That’s a good sign as far as I’m concerned.”

Early in the season, Peninsula was playing as well as any Southern Section team in the South Bay.

But the Panthers have lost to Inglewood and Santa Monica in two of their past three games and Mihaljevich is concerned.

“At the start of the season, our goal was to win the Bay League championship,” Mihaljevich said. “It’s not going to be easy but we could still end up in a three-way tie (for first). But it’s just disappointing that in two consecutive big games we got outrebounded and outhustled.”

The Panthers still have one of the best records in the South Bay at 18-5 overall and 3-2 in league play. But Mihaljevich said his team needs to regroup.

“It seemed like we were playing with a lot more rebounding and defensive intensity prior to the league season,” he said. “It’s slipped away but there’s no reason for that.

“I’m not happy with any of our front-line players. Collectively, they’re not doing the job rebounding or defensively.

“I always felt a big key in putting this team together was keeping our rebounding together and playing with intensity. We have to get back to that if we want to have a chance to win the Bay League championship.”

With only four regular-season games remaining, including a nonleague road game against Torrance on Friday, the Panthers are running out of time. Peninsula’s biggest remaining league game is Feb. 12 at league co-leader Santa Monica.

The Banning girls’ team appears to be surging at an opportune time.

The Pilots improved to 9-5 overall and 3-1 in Southern Pacific Conference play with an 80-27 victory over Gardena on Friday.

“We’re coming together well,” Coach David DeLaby said. “We’ve improved in each of the last four games.”

DeLaby is impressed with the Pilots’ defense, especially against Dorsey in a 57-35 victory Wednesday.

“We almost shut Dorsey out for the first half,” DeLaby said. “They scored their first basket with 1:54 left in the half. So we’re playing well.”

The Pilots should be among the Pacific League favorites when they open on the road against rival Carson at 4 p.m. Wednesday. Carson (11-4) was ranked No. 2 and Banning No. 3 in the City Section by The Times last week.

The Pilots have not beaten Carson since DeLaby’s first season at the school. “This is my fifth year here and we haven’t played well against Carson yet,” he said.

DeLaby is hoping that the Pilots will be able to break that streak on Wednesday.

“This is the most experienced team I’ve had,” he said.

With players such as 5-foot-8 guard Rayjanette Lampkin and 6-4 center Michelle Campbell, DeLaby thinks believes the Pilots can be a factor in the City playoffs.

“I think we’re probably the only team in the City that can beat Washington,” he said. “We have some matchups that can cause problems for them.”

The Pilots lost to the top-ranked Generals, 58-40, on Jan. 22.

“There were a lot of factors that went into that game for us,” DeLaby said. “They’re a good team but I think we can give them a much tougher game.”

The Carson boys’ team held high-scoring Washington forward Brandon Martin to a season-low eight points in a battle of Southern Pacific Conference leaders on Friday.

But despite the defensive effort against Martin, who has signed a national letter of intent to attend USC in the fall, Carson still lost, 57-50. Carson is 12-6 and 3-1.

Washington, ranked No. 3 in the City by The Times, is 4-0 in league play.

The South Torrance boys’ team saw its 11-game winning streak end in a 62-49 loss to Culver City on Friday in a nonleague road game.

South, which is ranked No. 3 by Cal-Hi Sports News in the State Division III poll, dropped to 17-4 as guards Jimmy Williamson and Jason Anthony--the team’s leading scorers--were held to six points each. The two players had combined for 49 points in South’s 69-67 victory over Torrance on Wednesday.

The Spartans still lead the Pioneer League with a 4-0 record going into the second half of league play. South plays league opponent North on Wednesday. North defeated Torrance, 83-77, on Friday for its first league victory in five games.