Orange County boys basketball Top 25: Mater Dei still No. 1 as Trinity League play begins, Jan. 4

This week’s Orange County high school boys basketball rankings.

Notable this week: Trinity League teams have four of the top five spots in this week’s Top 25 rankings. … Orange Lutheran moved up to No. 5 this week after its strong showing in The Classic at Damien tournament. … Trinity League play begins this week, and the schedule includes No. 1 Mater Dei at No. 3 JSerra on Wednesday and No. 3 JSerra at No. 2 Santa Margarita on Friday. … Los Alamitos, which won the Tustin Classic tournament last week, moves up to No. 9 in the rankings.

BOYS BASKETBALL TOP 25

(Records through Tuesday, Jan. 3)

1. Mater Dei 12-2: The Monarchs won the championship of the In-N-Out Division at the Desert Holiday Classic in the Palm Springs area. Among their four wins was a 64-54 triumph over previously-undefeated Mira Costa. Mater Dei senior Zack Davidson was named the division’s MVP.

Previous ranking: 1

2. Santa Margarita 15-3: The Eagles went 2-2 in The Classic at Damien’s Platinum Division, the tournament’s top division. They lost their first two games before beating Narbonne and Dublin.

Previous ranking: 2

3. JSerra 13-3: The Lions were 2-2 in the Holiday Classic at Torrey Pines. Aidan Fowler scored 34 points for JSerra in a 97-91 win over San Ysidro.

Previous ranking: 3

4. Fairmont Prep 12-3: The Huskies were 1-2 in the SB Live Division of the Desert Holiday Classic, among the tournament’s top divisions. Their fourth game was canceled by the opposing team.

Previous ranking: 4

5. Orange Lutheran 10-4: The Lancers forged a 3-1 record in the Silver Division of The Classic at Damien. The Silver was the fourth-best division of the seven divisions in the tournament that annually is one of the top tournaments in California.

Previous ranking: 6

6. Canyon 14-4: The Comanches, who might not be as strong as preseason projections suggested because of injuries to starters Jaden and Josh Goodall, were 1-3 in The Classic at Damien’s top division, the Platinum Division.

Previous ranking: 5

7. Pacifica Christian 11-7: The Tritons were 2-2 in the Gold Division, the second-best division of The Classic at Damien, and lost in the division’s consolation championship game.

Previous ranking: 8

8. Foothill 16-1: The Knights won the championship of the Senator Division of the Holiday Classic at Torrey Pines. Foothill’s Travis Paleo was named the division’s most valuable player.

Previous ranking: 10

9. Los Alamitos 13-4: A wild fourth-quarter comeback carried the Griffins to victory over Tesoro in the Tustin Classic tournament championship game. Los Alamitos sophomore Chad Minter was the tournament’s MVP.

Previous ranking: 11

10. Tesoro 15-3: The Titans lost to Los Alamitos 44-40 in the Tustin Classic final after tournament wins over Westmont, Woodbridge and Tustin.

Previous ranking: 7

11. Orangwood Academy 15-3

Previous ranking: 9

12. Crean Lutheran 10-5

Previous ranking: 12

13. Capistrano Valley 12-4

Previous ranking: 13

14. Sonora 14-4

Previous ranking: 14

15. La Habra 13-4