After taking a week off for the Thanksgiving holiday, the San Diego Hoops basketball league got off to an exciting start with the undefeated Morgan Stanley team facing Kickers, who have come on strong late in the first half of the season.

Despite a 23-point effort by Morgan Stanley’s team captain and high scorer, Paul Demke, it was not enough to carry his team to victory. Kickers’ Robert Simmons stepped up for his team, scoring 29 points while team captain Dwight Dunn sank another 18 to put them over the top in the 67-60 win.

Game 2 had AAA Mortgage Market taking on Pecs. The last time these two teams met, the game went into double overtime and eventually ended in a tie. This time around AAA Mortgage broke away early in the first half to take the lead. Pecs did their best to keep up with the scoring, but in the end AAA Mortgage Market proved to be the better team. Pecs’ top scorer was Christopher Battistuz with 9 points. The lead scorer for AAA Mortgage Market was Dan Taylor with 15 points. In the end it was 30-43 giving AAA Mortgage Market their second win in a row.

In Game 3 it was a shorthanded Colorworks Painting against The Loft. Despite their missing player, Colorworks Painting put on a great effort and forced The Loft to fight for their points. With a numbers advantage on the court, however, The Loft wore down Colorworks and broke away, taking the lead and never looking back. The high scorer for Colorworks was Randy Williams with 19 points. The lead scorer for The Loft was Bryan Leigh with 17 points, with the final score 48-39 for The Loft.

Last but not least, while Week 8 brought about an end to Morgan Stanley’s winning streak, Hummingbird/Brians’ broke their season long losing streak in a big way as well. Early on in the first half Hummingbird/ Brians’ showed off some great team chemistry in their passing game and were able to convert their positions into baskets. Unable to respond to the fast-paced game, Moby Dicks went down in defeat 33-70. The lead scorer for Moby Dicks was Rick Saunders with 15 points. The top scorer for the Hummingbirds was Robert Wiggins with 21 points to end the night.

Basketball season continues this week with games at the Golden Hill Recreation Center. The first game tips off at 6:00 p.m. and games continue each hour until 10:00 p.m.