Third-seeded AAA Mortgage started the San Diego Hoops’ single elimination tournament with a solid 50-38 quarterfinal victory over sixth-seed Pecs on March 2. AAA improved to 10-7-1 with the victory and will next play second-seed Kickers in the semifinals.

Pecs, who end their season with a 5-12-1 record, did a great job of handling and passing the ball, but could not match that accuracy on their shots. It took a while for AAA Mortgage to warm up and start connecting with the basket, as they missed shots early on.

“Overall we played good enough to win but I think that we can do better,” said AAA Coach Brett Drake. “Our 3-point shooting saved us. Every time Pecs would go on a run we would hit a couple of threes and put an end to it.”

Kickers are heavily favored to make the finals as the second-seeded team, improving to 15-3 overall with a dominating 74-37 win over Colorworks Painting. Colorworks have had a tough season, struggling with injuries while having to forfeit some games due to a lack of players.

Colorworks fought hard with the players they had, but could not slow down Kickers’ offensive runs, which started from the first minutes of the game. Rob Simmons led Kickers in scoring with 26 points.

Top-seeded Morgan Stanley came out with great confidence on the court, with great passes and flawless fast-break executions to defeat The Loft in a dominating 69-36 victory. The Loft did what they could against the top team in the league. Bryan Leigh did a great job of attacking Morgan Stanley’s only weakness, which was not having a great height advantage underneath.

In the closest game of the night, fifth-seeded Brians’ beat fourth-seeded Moby Dick’s 44-34. Moby Dick’s drove well into the basket, getting fouls called in their favor. It took a while for Brians’ to get their offense going, leading by only 5 points at halftime, but eventually took control of the game.

“We as a team, we executed properly down the stretch. We got the ball to the people we needed to score and pulled away from them in the end,” said Robert Wiggins, Brians’ coach and a player, who added a game-high 23 points.