The stage has been set for the 2004 San Diego Hoops basketball league championships. Teams in the league began competing in October and now, at then end of the five month long season, two teams have emerged as the top teams in the league and will face off in a final showdown this week.

On the road to the final two, Fusion has amassed a 12-4 record and navigated the playoffs, defeating Powerhouse Gym in the quarterfinals and Brians’/Hummingbird in the semifinals last week.

Both Fusion and Brians’/Hummingbird showed up to play in the first game of the semifinals. Despite missing last year’s MVP, Dwight Dunn of Brians’/Hummingbird rose to the occasion.

“We came out fired up,” Brians’/ Hummingbird’s coach Randy Miller said. “We knew that Dwight wasn’t going to be here and we wanted to show them that we could play even though Dwight wasn’t here.”

Brians’/Hummingbird hung in throughout the first half, ending the period with a 25-25 tie ballgame. Fusion managed to get a jump on them in the second half, though, and began to build a lead.

“I just think we started to hustle a little bit more,” Fusion’s coach Stuart Leung said about his team’s second-half turn around. “I think we took a little bit for granted that Dwight wasn’t going to be here. We felt a little sigh of relief and they shoved it down our throat. At halftime I told the guys they’ve got three or four guys who are capable of shooting the ball and that proves our point right there.”

At the final buzzer, Fusion held a 52-39 lead over Brians’/Hummingbird. Stuart Leung was the high scorer for Fusion with 20 points. Behind him was Jeff Wyngaert with 15 points. Brian Ruskiewicz was the high scorer for Brians’/Hummingbird with 12 points in the game.

“Our team is solid,” Leung said about his team. “When I went to pick these guys I wanted one through eight, any body could be on the court at any time and if we were going to score 40 points a game, I wanted everyone to score five. I still feel the same way, sometimes it’s harder, sometime the defense dictates that but that’s my goal every game, to get everyone involved.”

In game two of the night it was Morgan Stanley facing The Loft. Morgan Stanley has been the team to beat all season, only losing one game this year with a 15-1 record going into the championship game. Despite being the underdog in the game, The Loft came out determined to prove themselves against Morgan Stanley, making it a three-point game at the half with a score of 16-13.

In his halftime talk with his team Paul Demke, the Morgan Stanley coach, focused on the team getting on one of their “patented runs” and said “if we can get a six to eight point run and really break it open that will really open the game for us and that’s exactly what happened.”

Morgan Stanley built on their three-point lead in the second half to win it 39-31, making it one of their lowest scoring games all season. Demke lead his team in scoring with 19 points and Dan Taylor was the high scorer for The Loft with 10 points.

“It’s tough to lose and lose this way, but at least it was close,” said Rod George, coach of The Loft. “We didn’t get blown out. We fought to the end and played hard. Everyone contributed and what more can you ask for from a team.”

In this week’s championship game, Morgan Stanley will go in with an edge over Fusion, having beat them twice already this season, but regardless of the outcome, it is expected to be an outstanding game.

“We are just looking forward to the championship game,” Demke added. “It’s one versus two so you can’t ask for anything better than that.”