Westchester finishes ranked No. 1 in boys’ basketball

BEN BOLCH’S FINAL BOYS’ BASKETBALL RANKINGS

Rk.; Team (Record, Section-Division); Comment

1; WESTCHESTER (32-3, City-Div. I); Ed Azzam now has as many state titles — six — as assistant coaches.

2; MATER DEI (32-2, SS-Div. 1AA); Westchester fan who told Monarchs to “get their weight up” didn’t know Gary McKnight is dieting.

3; TAFT (26-5, City-Div. I); Toreadors have been an also-ran in state playoffs so often that fans are given Daily Racing Forms instead of rosters.

4; LONG BEACH POLY (28-5, SS-Div. 1AA); Raul Lara checking with Sharrief Metoyer to find out what it’s like to be the big coach on campus.

5; ETIWANDA (24-10, SS-Div. 1AA); Eagles fans review tape to see if Mater Dei game marked triumphant return of referee Al Hackney.

6; GARDENA SERRA (34-2, SS-Div. 3A); It was lights out for opponents as soon as Cavaliers donned the black tribute uniforms.

7; PRICE (33-3, SS-Div. 4AA); Odds of two players from a school of 78 going to the same Pac-10 power equal to those of winning Mega Millions lottery twice.

8; CORONA CENTENNIAL (25-5, SS-Div. 1AA); Etiwanda’s defense was double trouble for Huskies offense that had been posting triple digits.

9; LEUZINGER (25-8, SS-Div. 1A); Olympians tell Taft’s Bryce Jones they want double-or-nothing on his buzzer-beating three-pointer.

10; SANTA MONICA (25-8, SS-Div. 1A); Here’s proposing the Vikings adopt the shield-toting Rental Man of Westside Rental as their permanent mascot.

11; COMPTON CENTENNIAL (28-7, SS-Div. 3A); Third time against Gardena Serra — a 24-point loss in Southern California regional final — was charmless.

12; RANCHO VERDE (27-5, SS-Div. 1AA); Kyle Fuller shows that life after Michael Snaer goes on just fine.

13; HARVARD-WESTLAKE (25-6, SS-Div. 3A); After starting 2-4 and finishing with consecutive losses, Wolverines say “It’s how you middle that counts.”

14; LOYOLA (26-4, SS-Div. 1A); Cubs went down in one fell Swoope each time they played rival Harvard-Westlake.

15; PASADENA (26-8, SS-Div. 2A); After chomping on Murrieta Valley, Bulldogs engaged in mostly teeth-gnashing against San Diego Lincoln.

16; MURRIETA VALLEY (28-5, SS-Div. 2AA); Nighthawks have been playing together for so long that they know which flavor of Nesquik each prefers.

17; LA VERNE LUTHERAN (28-8, SS-Div. 5AA); It was a good thing for Southern California hoops fans that these Trojans weren’t banned from postseason play.

18; COMPTON (21-15, SS-Div. 2AA); Thought to be Tarbabes in the woods without DeMar DeRozan, this team proved to be plenty hoops-savvy.

19; EISENHOWER (29-6, SS-Div 2A); Seven was unlucky, considering it was number of three-pointers Eagles made in 41 attempts in loss to Compton.

20; GAHR (27-6, SS-Div. 3A); Against Gardena Serra, Gladiators were like King Arthur going into battle without Excalibur.

21; FOOTHILL (29-3, SS-Div. 3AA); Stirring run to section title was a giddy Knights’ tale.

22; OCEAN VIEW (29-5, SS-Div. 3AA); Coach Jim Harris finally made it to Sacramento, but his bid to go to Bakersfield was one and undone.

23; COLONY (24-8, SS-Div. 1A); Apparently it takes a village to beat Santa Monica in the playoffs because a Colony wasn’t enough.

24; CHINO HILLS (26-3, SS-Div. 1A); Twenty-six wins and all the Huskies have to show for it is ticket stub from quarterfinal loss to Santa Monica.

25; LOS ALAMITOS (23-7, SS-Div. 1AA); Griffins’ version of “Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!” is “Mater Dei! Mater Dei! Mater Dei!”