The new year is here and there is some good basketball going on the region this week.

Monday January 5, Brentwood at Viewpoint, 3 p.m. and Loyola at Chaminade, 7 p.m.

Tuesday January 6, Kilpatrick at Montclair Prep, 5 p.m. and Golden Valley at Oaks Christian, 7 p.m.

Wednesday January 7, Simi Valley at Thousand Oaks, 7 p.m.

Girls games include Bell-Jeff at Saugus, Alemany at Valencia, Sierra Canyon at L.A. Baptist, Windward at Harvard-Westlake and village christian at Campbell Hall. All games on Tuesday.

Wednesday features Montclair Prep at Faith Baptist at 4 p.m. and Muir at Crescenta Valley at 4:45 p.m.

Thursday January 8 showcases Chaminade at Harvard-Westlake and Saturday January 10 has Canyon at Notre Dame

Malibu took ninth-place in a 77-61 victory against L.A. Baptist of North Hills.

Chandler Abbott scored 33 points and Ben Apstein scored 23.

Malibu led 47-22 at halftime.

In the championship game, Walnut beat St. Monica 59-49.

Marshall of Pasadena beat Pasadena Poly 64-41 for third place.

Monrovia beat Western Christian of Covina 70-63 in overtime for fifth place.

St. Genevieve of Panorama City beat Sherman Oaks C.E.S. of Reseda 59-50 for seventh place.

Viewpoint of Calabasas beat Hillcrest Christian of Granada Hills 60-39 for 11th place.

It wasn't pretty and it wasn't quite the same team that won the Modesto Christian Holiday Hoop Classic on Tuesday night in a victory against Etiwanda but Taft of Woodland Hills did just enough right things to beat Colony of Ontario, 69-55, in a non-league game in the Johnnie L. Cochran basketball classic at Cal St. Dominguez Hills in Carson.

"If some teams scouted us today they probably left feeling very confident," Taft coach Derrick Taylor said.

The Toreadors (11-2), the region's top-ranked team, got off to a slow start, leading only 34-28 at halftime.

They weren't fluid on offense and had some mental lapses on defense.

"I think everybody was relaxing a little too much," Taft guard Justin Hawkins said.

But when Taft needed to come through, that is exactly what it did.

Leading 50-47 with seven minutes remaining, the Toreadors went on a 17-3 run to finally pull away.

"I wanted to win," CSUN-bound forward Terran Carter said. "I was going to do whatever it took for that to happen. I had to be a leader."

Carter finished with nine points, 17 rebounds and seven assists.

Hawkins, headed for UNLV next year, did his part as well, finishing with 23 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals.

"I think all the traveling we have done took its toll," Hawkins said. "We have not practiced a lot lately either. We just knew we had to step up in the second half."

Michael Williams and DeSean Johnson complemented fellow seniors Carter and Hawkins with 19 and 14 points respectively. Williams made five 3-pointers, once again demonstrating he is one of the best shooters in the region.

"We were just flat and every team always has a game like this at some point," Taylor said. "I am glad we were still able to win the game."

Colony (8-6), which lost top player Tyler Lamb when he transferred to Mater Dei of Santa Ana last summer, was led by Dennis Craig's 15 points and Gene Saulsberry's 13.

Christmas might be over a week old but Sylmar was still in the giving mood blowing an 11-point lead and dropping a non-league game to Perris, 58-56.

The Spartans (8-5) went on a 10-0 run in the third quarter behind two 3-pointers from Gary Ricks and a lay-up each from Roberto Dominguez and Tyler Honeycutt but couldn't hang on after a disastrous fourth quarter.

Sylmar was outscored 19-6 in the final eight minutes, shot just three of 15 from the field in the quarter and never got the ball to Honeycutt, instead settling for long range 3-point shots that weren't falling.

"We shot ourselves out of the game," Honeycutt said. "We shouldn't have been down at halftime even. We would just chuck up shots and then not get back on defense. Games like this are why we don't get the respect we think we should have. We should smash teams like we played today."

The 6'9 Honeycutt, who will attend UCLA next season, finished with 21 points, 20 rebounds and four blocks.

Gary Ricks had a solid game for Sylmar with 20 points and seven rebounds including six 3-pointers but the Spartans got little production anywhere else.

Santa Clara-bound guard Robert Smith had 28 points and 12 rebounds to lead Perris.

Myron Samuel had 15 points, seven steals, four assist and four rebounds.

The game played like a roller coaster ride throughout.

Sylmar went on an 11-2 run to lead by nine at 26-17 but Perris used a 13-2 run to close the first half and lead by two.

In the third quarter, Sylmar went on a 10-0 run but Perris answered with a 15-2 fourth quarter run and hung on.

A key stat for Sylmar was shooting just one free throw the entire game.

Prince Obasi and David Selma each had 17 points for Cleveland of Reseda in a 64-62 victory against Price of Los Angeles (11-4).

The Cavaliers (9-4) led 61-53 with 2:21 remaining but had to withstand a late rally and two missed shots by Price in the final seconds.

Obasi had nine rebounds, five assists and made all eight of his free throws.

Selma made seven of eight shots from the field and Jason Johnson had 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

"It was good teamwork today," Selma said. "We showed poise and made free throws down the stretch."

Thouansand Oaks Behdod Katebian won the 125-pound division at the Shark Tank Invitational wrestling tournament at Santiago HIgh School in Corona.

The junior placed second at the Brea Linda tournament on Dec. 20.

Andrew Farhadi started the new year with a bang....

Farhadi scored a game-high 30 points, grabbed 19 rebounds and dished out five assists to lead Buckley of Sherman Oaks to the 64-59 victory over Pacifica Christian of Santa Monica in a semifinal game in the Palm Springs tournament at Desert Christian High School in Indio.

The Griffins (13-1) will play host Desert Christian in the Championship game Saturday.

Jake Brodsky and Ryan Norris scored 11 points each for Buckley. Norris had seven assists while Brodsky had five assists.

In other Boys' Basketball games:
Malibu 64, Viewpoint 61: Chya Mousavipor had 20 points to lead four Malibu players in double figures in the Viewpoint tournament in Calabasas.

Chandler Abbott had 18 points, Max Flores had 11 and Ben Rotman added 10 for the Sharks (10-4).

Malibu trailed 30-27 at halftime but outscored Viewpoint 25-11 in the third quarter to take control of the game.

Tucker Trainer scored a game-high 27 points to lead Viewpoint (4-5). Jack Borenstein added 12 points for the Patriots.

Viewpoint Boys Tournament. Schedule for Friday Jan. 2

: : : 10:30 a.m. Malibu vs. Viewpoint
: : : 12 p.m. Hillcrest Chr./G. Hills vs. L.A. Baptist

: : : 1:30 p.m. Western Chr. vs. Sherman Oaks C.E.S.
: : : 3 p.m. St. Genevive vs. Monrovia

: : : Champinship Semifinals
: : : 4:30 p.m. Pasadena Poly vs. Walnut
: : : 6 p.m. Marshall of Pasadena vs. St. Monica

Thousand Oaks resident JT Sundling, a USC signee, won the 18-under singles title Thursday at the USTA Winter National Championships in Phoenix, defeating Connor Smith of Tampa, Fla., 1-6, 6-0, 7-6 (0).

Sundling, who captured the 18-under summer sectional title in Fountain Valley in June, dropped only two sets -- the other in the first round -- en route to the championship.

Sundling, a former Winter National doubles champion, also reached the doubles final with partner Sekou Coker Bangoura of Bradenton, Fla., but lost 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 to Irvine's John Huang and Marc Powers of Stamford, Conn.

Taft of Woodland Hills senior Josh Tchan and partner Daniel Ho of Beverly Hills rebounded from a three-set semifinal setback to Bangoura and Sundling to defeat Garret Dunn and Andy Nguyen -- both from Arizona -- 6-4, 7-6 (3) in the 18-under division third-place match.

Tchan, headed to Harvard, was also given the Sportsmanship Award in the boys' 18-under division. He reached the round of 16 in singles, losing 6-3, 6-4 to Redlands' Joe Young.

Campbell Hall of North Hollywood's Sarah Lee and Sabrina Santamaria, who captured the Southern Section doubles title Dec. 5, lost 6-4, 7-5 in the quarterfinals to champions Kaitlyn Christian of Orange Lutheran and Whitney Kay of Alpharetta, Ga.

Santamaria lost to Christian in the round of 16 in singles. Lee lost in the round of 32. Christian then defeated Lee in the consolation quarterfinals en route to the consolation title.

Daily News Top 20 Boys Basketball thru Dec. 31

1. Taft (10-2)
2. Campbell Hall (9-3)
3. Golden Valley (13-1)
4. Reseda (10-6)
5. Thousand Oaks (12-2)
6. Hart (11-5)
7. Agoura (12-2)
8. Granada Hills (12-3)
9. Simi Valley (10-4)
10. Valencia (10-2)
11. Sylmar (8-4)
12. Harvard-Westlake (8-5)
13. Crespi (9-4)
14. El Camino Real (10-5)
15. Chaminade (9-4)
16. Cleveland (8-4)
17. La Canada (11-2)
18. Lancaster (8-3)
19. Chatsworth (8-6)
20. Oaks Christian (11-1)

Others: Knight (8-3), Village Christian (9-4), Eastside (8-5), Saugus (7-6), Burbank, West Ranch, Kennedy, Calabasas (5-8), Sierra Canyon (9-7), Buckley (11-1).

Here's a quick rundown of all the area high school basketball action from Tuesday. One of the best nights of the year was also one of the last. For more information, visit: www.dailynews.com/preps

BOYS' BASKETBALL

Taft of Woodland Hills exacted revenge for a 2004 loss in the Southern California regional tournament of the Div. I state playoffs by defeating Etiwanda 63-61 in the championship game of the Modesto Christian tournament.

Golden Valley atoned for an earlier loss to Foothill League rival Hart of Newhall in the San Fernando Valley tournament to defeat the Indians on their home floor 96-89 in the final of the Hart tournament.

Granada Hills defeated Valencia 50-45 in overtime to win the Chaminade of West Hills tournament.

La Canada held on to defeat Alhambra 44-43 to win the La Salle/Temple City Holiday Classic at La Salle High in Pasadena. The Spartans won their own tournament title Dec. 20.

Renaissance Academy of La Canada Flintridge recorded a 54-45 triumph over Flintridge Prep of La Canada Flintridge to win the San Gabriel tournament.

Harvard-Westlake of Studio City prevailed 64-49 over Desert Vista of Phoenix at the Arizona Basketball Challenge.

Agoura battled valiantly against perennial Div. I state power Clovis West, but lost 59-56 in the final of the Santa Barbara tournament.

Crespi of Encino suffered a 52-50 overtime loss to El Camino of Oceanside in the Desert Heat division final at the Cathedral City tournament.

GIRLS' BASKETBALL

In a game that actually lived up to the hype, Montclair Prep of Panorama City prevailed in the battle for area supremacy with Bell-Jeff of Burbank to record a 63-62 victory in the championship game of the Bell-Jeff Christmas tournament. It was Montclair Prep's second tournament title of the season, also winning the Crescenta Valley of La Crescenta crown. Expect the teams to see one another again in March in the Southern Section Div. V-A playoffs.

Oaks Christian rallied from a 14-0 deficit to open the game and used two 7-0 runs and a 10-0 spurt near the end of regulation and the two overtimes to defeat Oregon's Corvallis High 76-69 in the final of the Winter Slam Jam tournament at Van Nuys High.

Agoura continued its hot streak, capturing a third tournament title by defeating host La Canada in the final of its event 74-52. The Chargers also won championships at the Gold Coast tournament at Rio Mesa of Oxnard and at the Providence tournament in Burbank.

Alemany defeated Eagle Rock 43-33 to win the title at the Rowland tournament in Rowland Heights.

Chatsworth, Knight of Palmdale, Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks, Palmdale and Taft of Woodland Hills are all in action today at the Best of the West tournament hosted by Ayala High in Chino Hills. Chatsworth and Knight both play at Ayala High, Palmdale and Taft are scheduled to compete at Chino Hills High and Notre Dame will play at Ganesha High in Pomona.

With the Mater Dei Premier Invitational, Buena tournament, Las Virgenes/Conejo Classic and Hart tournament complete, there are only a few holiday tournaments left for local girls' soccer teams.

The Los Tacos Holiday Festival concludes Tuesday at the Glendale Sports Complex, with pool-play matches at 10 and 11:45 a.m., consolation matches at 2:15 p.m., and the third-place and championship matches at 3:45 p.m.

Royal of Simi Valley and Pasadena lead their pools entering into the final pool-play contests, with Flintridge Sacred Heart and La Salle still in the hunt in the Red Bracket and Burbank still in contention in the Green Bracket.

Flintridge Sacred Heart and La Salle are the only two champions returning from previous years.

At the Excalibur tournament in Santa Ana, Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks and Thousand Oaks both suffered 1-0 losses on opening day, knocking them into the consolation bracket.

Notre Dame will face Temecula Valley and Thousand Oaks will play Newport Harbor, both at 8 a.m. Win or lose, the teams will both play again at 12:30 p.m.

The tournament concludes Wednesday.