Taft now the basketball team to beat in City Section

Los Angeles City Section basketball has produced the likes of NBA players Jordan Farmar (Taft), Trevor Ariza (Westchester) and Craig Smith (Fairfax) in recent years, but the absence of a bona fide standout player and team this season has made it a guessing game as to which schools might end up playing for the Division I title in March.

That made Saturday’s matchup between longtime powers Taft and Fairfax in a nonleague game all the more important in trying to bring some clarity to the pecking order.

What was learned is that Taft deserves the favorite’s role thanks to the emergence of 6-foot-7 senior Anthony January, a transfer from Compton who became eligible in late December.

January scored 13 points in the second quarter against the Lions, wiping out a five-point deficit, and he finished with 20 points to help Taft (17-3) defeat Fairfax, 44-38, in the championship game of the City Preview Classic.

January is tall and imposing, but he’s a future wing player in college, and first-year Taft Coach Jason Hart, a former NBA guard, has decided he’s not going to force January to play inside simply because of his size.

“He’s not a power player,” Hart said. “I don’t want to bottle him up. He’s a good shooter.”

Said January: “I’m very comfortable. I like playing with this group of guys. Everything is falling into place. It’s letting me develop my game for the future. He’s letting me get up and down and shoot jump shots.”

Taft struggled at times against Fairfax’s 2-3 zone defense and the game became ragged. Taft didn’t score a single basket in the fourth quarter, relying on 10 free throws. Fairfax (13-7) got 24 points from Brendyn Taylor and got as close as 36-34 with 5:29 left. But the Lions had trouble making shots and also missed 12 free throws.

The win should help put Taft in contention for a No. 1 seeding in the Division I playoffs. Westchester (12-4) also figures to be in the running, but the closeness of the game revealed plenty about City basketball.

“It’s so wide open,” Fairfax Coach Harvey Kitani said. “In years past, there’s always been one or two teams that have been a cut above the other five teams. This year, they’re all together.”

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com