After taking a brief break for the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, the San Diego Hoops Basketball League jumped back into action with an exciting week of games, as the leagues top players gear up for the Hillcrest Classic basketball tournament.

Things got started with a match-up between Colorworks Painting and Pecs. The addition of Michael Anderson to the Colorworks team turned out to be just the boost the team needed in the second half of the season. Anderson got Colorworks fired up by sinking four 3-pointers in a row. Pecs answered with some great all around teamwork, getting the ball to their guys with the hot hands. Pecs managed to push Colorworks into overtime. In the end, Pecs’ defense came through to bring home the win.

The final for the game was 55-52 in overtime. Pecs high scorer proved to be Eric Erickson with 16 points, while Michael Anderson led Colorworks Painting with 27 points.

Game 2 had Hummingbirds/Brians’ facing the league powerhouse, Morgan Stanley. Eleven weeks of playing together proved that the Hummingbirds had come together as a team. As always, Morgan Stanley came out attacking with their fast breaks. The final for the game had Morgan Stanley on top 52-45. High scorer for Morgan Stanley was Paul Demke with 18 points, and for Hummingbirds it was Robert Wiggins with 17 points.

Game 3 of the night featured some outstanding shooting from both Kickers and AAA Mortgage Market. Kickers Dwight Dunn and Robert Simmons both cleared the 20-point mark for their team, but AAA Mortgage Market’s big center, Dan Taylor, kept his team in the game going into the final minutes. In the end, Kickers capitalized on AAA Mortgage Market’s mistakes to win the game 73-70. Dwight Dunn of Kickers finished with 36 points and Dan Taylor led AAA Mortgage Market with 33 points.

To end the night, it was The Loft against Moby Dick’s. Right away, Paul Wash of Moby Dick’s came out attacking the goal. The Loft tried to answer back but was unable to slow down the momentum Moby Dick’s had built up, and could only answer with a handful of baskets in the first half. In the second half of the game, The Loft regrouped and started coming back, but it was too little too late as Moby Dick’s had already amassed a controlling lead. The final for the game was 42-29, with Moby Dick’s on top. Moby Dick’s high scorer was Paul Wash with 14 points. The Loft had Bryan Leigh and Mo Martinez both with 8 points.

This weekend, the San Diego Hoops will host the annual Hillcrest Classic basketball tournament. The action will take place at the main gymnasium on the Mesa College campus. Twelve teams, from as far away as New York and Chicago, will participate in the 2005 tournament. Things kick off on Saturday with round-robin play, and will conclude with the championship game Sunday evening at 5:30 p.m.