ESPN

His goal was simple: Play well and earn a scholarship.

Sure enough, C.J. Blackwell stuck to the plan over the course of his recent senior season as a member of the Woodland Hills Taft High boys' basketball team. Accordingly, interest in the 6-foot-5 wing never wavered as Division I programs kept a watchful eye on him throughout.

The recruiting process, however, came to an end Thursday afternoon. Blackwell ended up committing to nearby Loyola Marymount (LMU), choosing the Lions despite having been in contact with several schools, among them being Florida State, Virginia Tech and Wisconsin.

“I felt that Loyola Marymount was the best fit for me, it's close to home and my family can see me play in college, that was most important,'' Blackwell said.

Blackwell was instrumental in guiding Taft to a Los Angeles City Section title and a No.4 finish in the ESPNLosAngeles.com top 20 rankings. He shot 50 percent from the field, 42 percent from beyond the 3-point arc and averaged 13.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game.

In addition, Blackwell compared rather favorably to some of the premier players that the Southland had to offer. Listed as a power forward by ESPNU, he ranks right up there with peers such as Los Angeles Price's Norvel Pelle, Long Beach Poly's Ryan Anderson, Los Angeles Windward's Wesley Saunders and North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake's Damiene Cain.

Blackwell figures to play the small forward for the Lions.

“The coaching staff over at LMU said I would have a chance to play right away, but I know nothing is going to be handed to me,'' Blackwell said. “My focus was to work hard this season, I knew that if I did that, things would fall into place me for me. And they did. Now, in college, I know that I'm going to have to so the same thing. I'm ready to get back to work.''

Sean Ceglinsky covers preps for ESPNLosAngeles.com. Follow him on Twitter.

What a season, so much to reflect on, so little time.

The level of boys' basketball play in the Southland was seemingly at an all-time high this past season, most certainly right on par with what we have seen around here in years past.

The players. The coaches. The games. The drama. That said, we figured it was about time to unveil the ESPNLosAngeles.com top 20 rankings for the final time this season. Enjoy!

1. (2) Mater Dei (32-2): This group was supposed to be a year away from making an impact. But low and behold, juniors Xavier Johnson and Kaitin Reinhardt won a state title. Division I, no less.

2. (1) Long Beach Poly (31-2): All signs pointed to the Jackrabbits being capable of finishing as the wire-to-wire top-ranked team. Ultimately, however, the target on their backs was a bit too big.

3. (4) Corona Centennial (30-5): Dominique Dunning, Michael Caffey and Gelaun Wheelwright made a nice run. Capping off their senior campaigns with a championship was not in the cards though.

4. (3) Taft (29-3): The Toreadors were the odds-on favorite to win a City Section ring right before the season began. True to form, they had little, or no trouble living up to the rather lofty expectations.

5. (5) Loyola (25-6): Talk about not backing down from any challenges, the Cubs played one of the toughest schedules around. Make no mistake, they managed to hold their own in the process.

6. (6) Etiwanda (29-4): Most observers agreed that the Eagles were going to go as far as Byron Wesley would take them. Once postseason play started, the USC-bound senior did not disappoint.

7. (7) Orange Lutheran (27-7): Senior James Douglas is gone, having committed to Northern Arizona. Junior Gabe York returns which means the Lancers will be a formidable unit in the future.

8. (14) Ventura (29-3): Somehow, someway, the Cougars flew underneath the radar during the regular season. Rest assured, everyone knew plenty about them after the Southern Section playoffs.

9. (17) La Verne Lutheran (26-5): Turned tragedy into triumph. The Trojans overcame the loss of three people closely associated to the program and ended up with a Division III state championship.

10. (18) Windward (27-8): Wesley Saunders did a little bit of everything, most of it well. When all was said and done, he guided the Wildcats to a their second straight state title, this time in Division IV.

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1. The best basketball player in California is a girl. If there was any doubt Mater Dei’s Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis was the most talented basketball player in the state, she put it to rest in the championship game against Berkeley. After going scoreless for the first seven minutes of the game, she went on a scoring binge in the final minute of the first quarter and the entire second quarter. She scored 15 of her team’s 24 points in the first half. She helped her team erase a 12-point deficit and take a four-point lead into halftime. She ended up with a game-high 33 points. After the game, she said she wasn’t 100 percent healthwise. She hurt her quad in practice two days before the championship game. After hitting her first shot in the first quarter, she had a noticeable limp the rest of the game. Even when she was hobbled and playing on at best one-and-a-half legs, she was the best player on the court. The University of Connecticut will be in good hands for the next four years, as if it needed any more help to continue to be the best college basketball team in the country.
2. Wesley Saunders and Kenyatta Smith are going to make Harvard a force in basketball. Saunders from Windward and Smith from Flintridge Prep decided on the Ivy League for their college basketball careers. They probably could have played anywhere they wanted in the country. Saunders was highly recruited and guided Windward to the Division IV state championship. The 6-foot-6 forward scored 15 points and had nine rebounds in the state title game against Salesian. Smith’s size, at 6-8, made him an attractive recruit. He towered over his opponents through the Southern Section and state playoffs. Harvard hasn’t been to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament since 1946 and came within a last-second, desperation jumper from Princeton to going this year. Saunders and Smith might be the California connection to help end that drought.

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ANAHEIM -- Looking at the final box score, Julius Bilbrew didn't shoot particularly well during Saturday's Southern Section championship game. However, each and every time the Inglewood High boys' basketball team needed a big play, the senior guard managed to find a way to deliver.

Interestingly enough, when the Sentinels needed him the most in the Division 3A final against North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake, things did not go according to plan. It was not Bilbrew's fault either, Inglewood could not get the ball into the hands of its playmaker.

Trailing by a basket with less than two minutes left on the fourth quarter clock, the Wolverines focused their efforts on stopping Bilbrew. The strategy worked too, Inglewood struggled down the stretch and Harvard-Westlake ended up prevailing with a 47-45 victory at the Anaheim Convention Center.

“We wanted to get Julius the ball, he's one of our top scorers, but they made things difficult on us,'' Sentinels coach Pat Roy said. “We went into desperation mode and had to take whatever we could get at one point. It was a tough way to lose and no one likes losing.''

Give the top-seeded Wolverines (27-4) some credit, they relied on their strength throughout, which is size. Damiene Cain and Zena Edosomwan, both of whom are 6-foot-7, combined for 23 points, 26 rebounds and five blocks against third-seeded Ingelwood (24-7).

Rest assured, Cain and Edosomwan were focused on Bilbrew in the waning moments, there was no way the tandem was going to let the sharp-shooter beat them.

“I was going to block anything and everything,'' Cain said.

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The CIF-Southern Section and City Section playoffs are all set to get started later this, week which can mean only one thing: The Southland's top teams are on the verge of squaring off, tournament style, with the hopes of eventually bringing home some championship hardware to their respective schools.

We figured it was best to unveil another installment of the ESPNLosAngeles.com top 20 rankings before things get underway. It will be interesting, no doubt, to see how things unfold and just how many of the following programs live up to the lofty postseason expectations bestowed upon them.

In terms of making an appearance in the final poll before the playoffs, consideration was given to larger schools Compton, Elsinore, Murrieta Valley, Pasadena and Washington. The same could be same about little guys Mission Hills Alemany, Bellflower St. John Bosco and Westlake Village Oaks Christian. In the end, however, there is only room for 20 teams. So, let's get down to business.

1. (1) Long Beach Poly (24-1): Ryan Anderson and the Jackrabbits have been the top-ranked team from start to finish thus far. No need to switch things up at this stage of the game.

2. (2) Mater Dei (24-2): If anyone is capable of defeating Long Beach Poly in a loaded Division 1AA bracket, perhaps it is the Monarchs. Doing so, however, is an entirely different story.

3. (4) Taft (23-2): The talented Toreadors are the odds-on favorite to win the City Section title. Anything less than a championship would be one of the biggest surprises of the season.

4. (3) Corona Centennial (23-3): The premier program out in the Inland Empire has shown little, or no, signs of slowing down. A deep run during postseason play is a distinct possibility.

5. (5) Loyola (20-5): Talk about playing your best basketball at the most opportune time, no one wants to face the Cubs in Division 1A. The real question is, did they peak a bit too early?

6. (6) Etiwanda (25-2): The Eagles have plenty of explaining to do after inexplicably losing two of their final five regular-season games. That said, we are patiently waiting for an answer.

7. (7) Orange Lutheran (21-6): Among the teams looming as potential threats in Division 4AA are Windward, Alemany and St. John Bosco. The Lancers figure to be tested early and often.

8. (8) Westchester (23-6): After taking a brief glance at the City Section bracket, the Comets appear to be on a collision course with Taft in the finals. Looking ahead could prove costly though.

9. (9) Harvard-Westlake (22-4): With Daniene Cain and Zena Edosomwan providing an imposing presence down low in the paint, the Wolverines will be tough to beat in Division 3A.

10. (11) Peninsula (25-1): Lone loss came last year, on Dec. 3, a six-point setback to Westchester. Fast forward to present day and the Panthers are in the midst of a 21-game winning streak.

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Plain and simple, there probably is no boys' basketball program around that is as hot as Loyola right about now.

North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake would most likely attest to that after running into the Cubs on Friday night as Loyola walked away with a 71-51 victory in a game that figures to shake up the Mission League standings.

“Honestly, this team is growing and becoming stronger with each and every game we play,'' Loyola coach Jamal Adams said. “They stand together and fight, they scrap, they claw their way to wins. You know what, that has been a recipe for success.''

The Wolverines (21-3, 9-1), No. 7 in the ESPNLosAngeles.com top 20 rankings, entered the showdown against their longtime league rival in first place. They were riding an impressive 18-game winning streak, so confidence was not lacking.

However, none of that mattered to the second-place Cubs (19-5, 9-2), ranked No. 8 in the ESPNLA rankings. They appeared to be determined from the start.

The Cubs jumped out to a 19-12 lead by the end of the first quarter. They did not let up in the second quarter thereafter as Joe Stein knocked down a number of shots from out on the perimeter to help guide Loyola to a 15-point advantage at the break.

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There are no significant changes at the top of the ESPNLosAngeles.com top 20 boys' basketball rankings this week. A shakeup toward the bottom half of the top 10, however, was in order after one team was dealt a surprising setback.

Also worth mentioning is the fact that a pair of programs are making their first appearance in the rankings following the exits of Murrieta Valley and Los Angeles Fairfax, a pair of schools that could be back in the mix sooner rather than later.

Some other teams to keep a close eye on are Aliso Niguel, Compton and La Verne Damien, along with Pasadena, Ventura and Los Angeles Washington. A couple of quality victories over the next couple of days figure to go a long way.

1. (1) Long Beach Poly (18-0): Winning Moore League games by an average of 42 points. Are you kidding me? Running the table appears to be entirely possible.

2. (2) Etiwanda (20-0): Jordan Daniels doesn't receive enough credit. All of that, however, could end up changing if the senior point guard keeps the Eagles flying high.

3. (3) Mater Dei (18-2): There are no easy games in the tough Trinity League. St. John Bosco looms on Wednesday followed by a showdown with Orange Lutheran on Friday.

4. (4) Centennial (16-3): Big VIII League games against Riverside King on Tuesday evening and Riverside Poly on Thursday night figure to offer little, or no, resistance.

5. (5) Taft (15-2): Kevin Johnson has been focused on the task at hand recently. And make no mistake, when the senior is motivated, the Toreadors are seemingly unstoppable.

6. (7) Westchester (18-5): With a showdown against rival Fairfax on Thursday, perhaps the Comets are primed for an upset loss Wednesday against Hamilton. Perhaps not.

7. (8) Canyon (19-2): Chris Anderson might be a tad bit undersized. He is, after all, 5-foot-7. Thing is, no one plays a bigger role tor the Comanches than the senior point guard.

8. (9) Harvard-Westlake (17-2): Damiene Cain and Zena Edosomwan are a potent one-two punch down in the post and they work the high-low game to near perfection.

9. (10) Mission Viejo (22-0): At 6-10, Issac Neilson is proving to be a force on both ends of the floor. Aliso Niguel will attempt to stop the BYU-bound senior on Friday night.

10. (6) Orange Lutheran (16-5): Suffered a setback with loss to Cezar Guerrero and St. John Bosco. Now, it is time to see how the Lancers respond to some adversity.

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La Canada moved up in the rankings, to No. 8, with an impressive win over Los Osos in the Azusa Pacific SoCal Shootout. Loyola jumped up to No. 5 with an impressive win over Crespi. Alemany dropped to No. 9 and has some tough games this week, including Price on Saturday in the Fairfax Showcase.

1. (1) Harvard-Westlake (17-2) – Harvard-Westlake has a 15-game winning streak after downing St Francis, 64-59 on Monday night. More impressively, Harvard-Westlake beat Alemany, 83-72 on Saturday night. Zena Edosomwan had a monster night against Alemany with 26 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the field and 10 rebounds. Damiene Cain scored in double figures in both games. He had 13 against St. Francis. He scored 23 and had 16 rebounds against Alemany. Harvard-Westlake plays Sherman Oaks Notre Dame on Wednesday night.

2. (2) Woodland Hills Taft (15-2) – Taft beat El Camino Real, 92-38, on Monday night to win its sixth game in a row. Colorado-bound point guard Spencer Dinwiddie scored 12 points and had 13 assists for Taft. Taft plays Granada Hills on Wednesday and Birmingham on Friday.

3. (3) Thousand Oaks (18-2) – Thousand Oaks squeaked past Royal, 63-60, on Friday night to win its third game in row and its fifth in its past six games. Four Thousand Oaks players scored in double figures. Austin Cagley led the Lancers with 19 points. Anthony Jacques scored 16. But it’s not all good news out of Thousand Oaks. The team will be without its head coach Rich Endres for two weeks. He has a blood clot behind his left knee and, under doctor’s orders, needs to stay off it for 14 days. He will miss Wednesday’s game against Agoura and most likely next week’s game against Westlake.

4. (4) Ventura (18-2) – Ventura doubled up on Santa Barbara, 66-33, behind an extremely balanced offensive attack. Four players scored in double figures. Dylan Houck and Richard Thomas each scored 11 points and were a combined 8-of-14 from the field. Ventura plays a reeling San Marcos team (14-7) on Wednesday night. San Marcos has lost four of its past five games.

5. (8) Loyola (13-5) – Loyola won its third game in a row and its fifth in the past six games after beating Crespi, 66-55. The Cubs built a 23-6 lead in the first half over Crespi behind a strong shooting night from Justin Childress. He scored 20 points and converted all six of his free throws in the fourth quarter. Freshman guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright scored 12 points and had five assists. Loyola plays Alemany on Wednesday and Chaminade on Friday.

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MISSION HILLS -- Too much Damiene Cain. And too much Zena Edosomwan. The same thing could be said about Josh Hearlihy.

Too much size. Too much strength.

Too much of all of the above, actually.

At times, it appeared as if the North Hollywood Harvard-Westlake High boys' basketball team was unstoppable on Saturday night against host Alemany. In fact, the Warriors attempted to use just about every gimmick defense known to slow down the Wolverines. But ultimately, nothing worked in an 83-72 Mission League loss.

"We used our size to our advantage tonight, we imposed our will,'' Harvard-Westlake coach Greg Hillard said. "I think we did a real good job of frustrating Alemany out there on the court tonight. We had everything working.''

Indeed, the Wolverines (17-2, 6-0) did have everything working, from the opening whistle until the final buzzer sounded. In the process, they appeared worthy of their No. 9 ranking in the ESPNLosAngeles.com Top 20 rankings.

The Warriors (14-6, 4-2), on the other hand, were overmatched. With the loss, they fall two games behind first-place Harvard-Westlake.

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After impressive starts, Crespi and Thousand Oaks lost their first league games of the season. Harvard-Westlake, the team that beat Crespi, moves into the No. 1 spot. Thousand Oaks slips to No. 5 after losing to Calabasas. Chatsworth makes its return to the top 10 at No. 10.

1. (2) Harvard-Westlake (14-2) – Harvard-Westlake beat Crespi, 56-47, in a Mission League game on Monday night and won its 11^th game in a row. Josh Hearlihy scored a team-high 16 points for Harvard-Westlake. Teammate Damiene Cain scored 11 points and had eight rebounds. Harvard-Westlake has two more tough Mission League games this week, Chaminade (11-5) on Wednesday and Loyola (11-4) on Friday.

2. (1) Crespi (14-4) – Crespi had its 11-game winning streak snapped against Harvard-Westlake. Alemany (11-5) and Chaminade (11-5) are on Crespi’s schedule this week.

3. (3) Woodland Hills Taft (11-2) – Taft has a tough test on Thursday night against an upstart Chatsworth (16-3) team. Before that, Taft plays Birmingham on Wednesday night. The Toreadors should be well-rested since the team hasn’t played since Dec. 30 in the Torrey Pines Tournament in San Diego. Then again, games on back-to-back nights might not be the best recipe for success after such a long layoff.

4. (5) Ventura (15-1) – Ventura has had a bit of a layoff as well. The Cougars last played on Jan. 7, a 64-19 blowout against Santa Barbara. Buena (9-7) is on tap for Ventura on Wednesday. A seemingly challenging test against San Marcos (13-3) awaits Ventura on Friday night.

5. (4) Thousand Oaks (15-2) – After winning its first 13 games of the season, Thousand Oaks is 2-2 in its past four games. The latest loss, 56-55 against Calabasas, is the first Marmonte League setback of the season for Thousand Oaks. Next up for the Lancers is Moorpark on Wednesday and Newbury Park on Friday.

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1. The Crespi boys basketball team won its 11^th game in a row and its first two games of Mission League play. Matt Mounier scored 28 points and had 10 rebounds in a tight 76-72 win over league rival Loyola. Crespi followed with 68-50 league win over St. Francis. Justin Rubia and Carter Gallo each scored 13 points and combined for six 3-pointers. Crespi plays Harvard-Westlake tonight.

2. The Harvard-Westlake boys are riding a 10-game winning streak and, like Crespi, won its first two Mission League games. Poor St. Francis was on the losing end of a 63-44 game last week to Harvard-Westlake. Josh Hearlihy scored 28 points and was 4-of-6 from 3-point range. Damiene Cain had a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds. He had a monster game against Notre Dame, scoring 24 points and grabbing 15 rebounds in a 63-45 win two nights later.

3. The Thousand Oaks boys basketball team bounced back after losing its first game of the season, the championship game of the Desert Heat Classic. Thousand Oaks won two Marmonte League games last week and improved to 4-0 in league play. Thousand Oaks won the first game, 52-47, over Westlake. In the second game, Evann Hall scored a career-high 33 points in Thousand Oaks’ 71-55 win over Simi Valley. Hall scored 14 points in the third quarter as Thousand Oaks built a 53-38 lead. Next up for Thousand Oaks is Calabasas tonight.

4. The Ventura boys basketball team won its 13^th game in a row. Win No. 13 came unmercifully against Santa Barbara, 64-19. Ventura held Santa Barbara to two first-quarter points and nine first-half points. Everyone on Ventura’s roster scored, but only Jared Wilson reached double figures. He scored a team-high 14, nearly matching the entire team output for Santa Barbara. Next up for Ventura is Buena on Wednesday night.

5. The Chatsworth boys basketball team has a little four-game winning streak, including 55-37 over Community Charter from Lake View Terrace in the College of the Canyons Showdown on Saturday. On the horizon is a more challenging showdown with Woodland Hills Taft on Thursday night. Taft is nationally ranked and considered one of the best teams in California. Taft hasn’t played since Dec. 30 against Corona Del Mar in the Torrey Pines Tournament in San Diego. Chatsworth gets El Camino Real and Taft will play Birmingham on Wednesday night before the two teams meet. It’ll be a good test for Chatsworth and perhaps a letdown for Taft.

Damiene Cain, Sr., Harvard-Westlake

He was the most valuable player in the Pacifica boys basketball tournament. Cain scored 17 points in his team's 82-74 win over Righetti in the championship game of the tournament. He averaged 14 points per game in four games of the tournament.

Brianna Barrett, Jr., Oaks Christian

She earned most valuable player honors in the South East girls basketball tournament. Oaks Christian beat Washington Prep, 59-51, in the championship game of the tournament. Barrett scored 11 points against Washington Prep and averaged 12.5 points per game in the tournament.