Anthony January was in full beast mode Wednesday night, leading the Toreadors with 17 points in a 84-54 thumping. CLA caught up with Anthony after the game to get his thoughts on the lopsided victory.

“It’s always like that. Most of the teams in high school basketball aren’t that big. So Coach always tells us to take advantage of that.”

January's athleticism has drawn the attention of several top college basketball programs since his decommitment from UTEP. He currently holds offers from Memphis, UNLV, USC, SDSU, Oregon, New Mexico State, New Mexico and several other programs.

Watch these highlights from Taft High School's opening round victory in the 2012 CIF State Basketball Playoffs over visiting Clovis West. Taft's outstanding senior Anthony January was the human highlight reel, once again. Head Coach Jason Hart's Toreadors came away with the victory, 84-54 and will face Bullard High School in round two.

Watch the CLA Sports 2012 High School Dunk of the Year. Orange Lutheran's Gabe York shows why he's the most exciting prep baller on the scene and is not afraid to posterize the biggest of the bigs. York's Orange Lutheran squad won the 2012 CIF Southern Section crown and earned a birth in the CIF Southern California Regionals.

Anthony January has made easy work of the competition for the Jason Hart coached Taft High School Toreadors Varsity Basketball squad. The rangy 6'7" swingman has been an absolute menace for Taft in 2012, and led the Toreadors to the LA City Section Championship for the second consecutive year.

Xavier "X-Straordinaire" Johnson gave the 2012 CIF Southern Section Basketball Playoff crowd something to go nuts about. The best dunk of the CIF SS playoffs came after Stanley Johnson dropped a Magic Johnson-esque dime to Xavier, who finished with a beastly smash and 'Mosgov' dunked over 6'11" Loyola center Thomas Welsh (40).

The crowd at the Anaheim Convention Center was in a frenzy for most of the evening, as 4th seeded Loyola put up a valiant effort against Mater Dei. Jackson-Cartwright scored a team-high 17 points for Loyola, who fell 61-58 to the Monarchs at the CIF Southern Section Division 1AA Boys Basketball Semifinals.

Prior to Saturday night's Mater Dei vs. Long Beach Poly matchup, everyone was fully aware of what the Gary McKnight coached Monarchs squad had in its arsenal.