CITY SECTION TENNIS PLAYOFFS : Birmingham Continues Championship Quest : 3-A Division: Braves--and rival Kennedy--score easy victories in quarterfinals.

The Birmingham High boys’ tennis team hopes the dry spell is over. It might be.

Reaching the semifinal round of a City Section playoff for the first time since 1987, the Braves routed San Pedro, 22-7 1/2, Tuesday in a 3-A quarterfinal match at Balboa Park.

After eight long years, Birmingham (11-4) made quick work of the Pirates.

The round-robin match--in which four Birmingham singles players each played one set against San Pedro’s four, and three doubles teams also rotated sets--was decided after only two rounds.

Birmingham won’t be satisfied with second best. If Tuesday’s blowout wasn’t statement enough, Coach Rick Pizant added an exclamation point.

“I think we should win the 3-A . . . if we play our tennis,” he said. “To be honest, I thought we would be a little bit better.”

No. 1 player Anthony Gabriele led the Braves with the only four-set sweep in singles. He did so by scores of 6-0, 6-0, 6-1 and 6-0.

San Pedro (10-4) also got bombed by Birmingham’s No. 2 doubles team of Matt Benbassat and Brian Blumer, who won their sets, 6-0, 6-0, 6-0. Yon Rojany and Kris Kenney, the No. 3 doubles team, also swept.

Talk about lopsided, the Braves held a 122-70 edge in games.

“At the beginning, I thought we’d win the whole championship,” Benbassat said. “At least our coach told us we would.”

Birmingham shared the North Valley League championship with Kennedy after the teams split 4-3 decisions during the regular season. The Golden Cougars also advanced to Monday’s 1 p.m. semifinals at the Studio City Racquet Centre by beating Carson. But Birmingham appears on an upward swing.

The Braves beat Kennedy to end the regular season, with Benbassat and Blumer winning the decisive matches.

“I think we can go all the way, because all of our players can cut it,” Blumer said. “All of our worst players have beaten other teams’ best players.”

Mike Khorrami, Birmingham’s No. 4 singles player, was the latest example. Khorrami lost three of his four sets, but his lone victory over Ive Grgas, San Pedro’s No. 3, clinched the match. Final score: 7-6 (7-1). And Khorrami had trailed, 5-1.

“I decided then to give it my best, go point by point,” Khorrami said. “I was putting balls in corners and making him go for them. It calmed me down.”

Khorrami said the tiebreaker wasn’t as easy as the score suggests.

“We had some good rallies and he made me work,” Khorrami said. “But I guess I was on a roll.”

So is Birmingham.

Kennedy 21, Carson 8 1/2--Norman Menjivar and Joe Nehemi swept their four sets for host Kennedy (12-2) in another 3-A quarterfinal match at the Studio City Racquet Centre.

The Golden Cougars will face top-seeded Eagle Rock, a 27-2 1/2 winner over Franklin.