Boys’ basketball: Loyola soars in top 25 rankings

Thanks to its victory over Long Beach Poly in the championship game of the Beverly Hills tournament, Loyola has risen to No. 8 in this week’s top 25 prep basketball rankings by The Times.

1. CORONA CENTENNIAL (3-0). Headed to Las Vegas for Tarkanian Classic. (1)
2. MATER DEI (5-0). Coach Gary McKnight won his 1,000th game. (3)
3. SIERRA CANYON (1-0). Headed to Florida for City of Palms. (2)
4. BISHOP MONTGOMERY (5-0). Playing in San Luis Obispo this week. (4)
5. PRICE (5-0). James Washington is a fantastic senior guard. (6)
6. FAIRFAX (4-0). Lions begin Western League play. (7)
7. REDONDO (4-2). Sea Hawks will be in Las Vegas. (8)
8. LOYOLA (7-1). Max Hazzard comes through in clutch. NR
9. LONG BEACH POLY (7-1). Sophomore Zafir Williams is rising prospect. (5)
10. CATHEDRAL (1-0). Kobe Paras debuts on Thursday in SFV Invitational. (12)
11. CANTWELL-SACRED HEART (6-2). Jacob Davison is making lots of threes. (9)
12. CHINO HILLS (3-1). Another team spending weekend in Las Vegas. (10)
13. ETIWANDA (3-2). Coach Dave Kleckner picked up 500th career win. (11)
14. ALEMANY (3-1). Warriors are in SFV Invitational. (13)
15. ST. JOHN BOSCO (7-2). Braves are gearing up for Trinity League. (15)
16. DAMIEN (7-1). Played well in Northern California. (17)
17. FOOTHILL (6-0). Knights travel to Fresno area. (18)
18. NORTH (4-0). Headed to Mission Prep tournament. (19)
19. MARANATHA (2-2). Will spend the weekend in Las Vegas. (20)
20. VILLAGE CHRISTIAN (5-1). Bennie Boatwright is exciting to watch. (21)
21. WESCHESTER (8-4). Comets lacking offense at the moment. (16)
22. CHAMINADE (4-0). Tougher games ahead. (22)
23. SONORA (5-1). Playing in North Orange County championships. (25)
24. LA MIRADA (4-1). Close loss to Sonora last week. (14)
25. ORANGE LUTHERAN (4-1). Headed to Hawaii. (24)

Twitter:@LATSondheimer