In a battle between the San Diego Hoops’ two last-place teams, 2200 Club showed they are a team to be reckoned with during a 63-32 romp of Pecs on Feb. 1.

2200 Club has improved each week during the season, which they continued this week with strong defense and good communication. Pecs seemed to be floundering from the beginning, missing their big man, Dan Newbold. Pecs won the jump, but it was three drives by both teams before either team scored. 2200 Club hit the board first and never looked back.

2200 Club led by 10 points before Pecs hit the score board. At one point, 2200 Club held a 15-point lead. At the half, 2200 Club led 28-14.

2200 Club stepped up their already aggressive defense during the second half. Half of all points scored by 2200 Club were the direct result of steals, blocked shots and intercepted passes. 2200 definitely brought their A-game, and kept up the pressure and the pace throughout the contest.

Pecs, on the other hand, was having a much harder time committing several turnovers. Their shots just weren’t falling. They were missing easy baskets and were allowing themselves to get flustered. Pecs made a couple of hard drives at the end of both halves, but it wasn’t enough to catch up.

Mona Valenzuela led Pecs with 13 points, and Sergio Villegas led 2200 Club with 14 points. 2200 Club improved to 2-9, while Pecs remains winless at 0-11.

AAA Mortgage handed Colorworks Painting a 63-44 loss during the second game of the night. Five minutes into the first half, AAA Mortgage held an 8-point lead and Colorworks wasn’t even on the board yet. Two minutes later, though, Colorworks was within 2 points and the score was 8-6.

The normally calm and collected AAA team was letting calls get to them, appearing flustered and irritable. Colorworks continued to push on, trying to narrow the gap. As play continued, AAA was forced to take a time out and settle down. At the half-time whistle, AAA led 30-16.

AAA regrouped and calmed down over the half-time break, and came out with a better defense and tighter focus. Larry Granville made the first two scores of the second half and set the tone for the rest of the game, with deliberate offensive plays and a more focused defense. Colorworks tried different tactics to throw off AAA’s timing, but they quickly adapted and correctly read Colorworks’ offense. Excellent outside shooting by David Matta of Colorworks, who had five 3-pointers and 22 points in all, kept them in game, but it wasn’t enough to catch up.

Granville led all scorers with 28 points.

AAA improves to 7-4, good for third place in the standings, and Colorworks slides to 4-7 for the season.

In the third game of the night, The Loft jumped out to an early lead, but Morgan Stanley quickly got their act together and came back shooting, playing strong defense and aggressive offense to prevail 57-38.

Morgan Stanley led at half-time 36-20 and dominated the rest of the game. In the second half, Morgan Stanley continued their relentless drives, giving The Loft no refuge.

The Loft’s Rick Saunders led his team with 16 points, and Danny Player led Morgan Stanley with 24 points.

With a perfect 11-0 record, Morgan Stanley retains their undefeated status and stranglehold on first place in the league standings. The Loft slips to 5-6 overall.

In the last game of the night, Pomegranate defeated Hamburger Mary’s 56-41. After a couple of slow weeks, Pomegranate found their groove again.

Pomegranate went on a 15-4 run in the first nine minutes. Hamburger Mary’s looked disorganized and was playing below their level for most of the first half. Mike Anderson of Hamburger Mary’s scored 13 first-half points, keeping it respectable. Pomegranate led 25-17 at the half.

In the second half, Pomegranate played excellent defense, limiting Anderson to scoring only 4 more points. Their offense stepped it up as well, as Leo Valenzuela (20 points), Jason Farr (15 points) and Eric Edwards (13 points) scored in double digits.

Valenzuela led Pomegranate with 20 points. Anderson led his team with 17. Pomegranate remains in second place for the season at 9-2. Hamburger Mary’s stands in fourth place with a 6-5 record.

Granville leads season scoring with 213 points, followed by Player with 197 points and Anderson, who has scored 179 points so far through 11 games.