In the past weekend, the Malta Basketball Referees Association, in conjunction with the Malta Basketball Association, organised the first edition of the Officials Memorial Cup in commemoration of all those officials who have passed away along the past 56 years of the game in Malta.

The first edition featured both the male and female under 16 categories although the idea seems to be that more categories will be included in further editions of the same cup.

The competition was spread over two consecutive days with the qualification games played on the first day and the two respective finals on the second.

On day one, two qualification games were played in the female category where Depiro registered a comfortable 80-55 win over Hibernians whilst Starlites Mazars left it until late in the game to beat Luxol 64-48.

Five teams participated in the boys’ category thereby an initial tie was needed before the semi-final stage. Hibernians beat Gżira Athleta 71-49 in this initial match to book a semi-final spot against Luxol later in the day.

Here a late three-pointer in the final seconds of the game ascertained Hibs’ passage to the final with a marginal 47-46 over the Violets.

In the other semi-final, Starlites Mazars handsomely beat Depiro 93-37.

Final U-16 Women

Depiro 68
Starlites GIG 45

(14-10, 22-6, 15-13, 17-16)

Despite a strong Starlites start, Depiro took the upper hand with an impressive 18-point streak spread over two quarters and they never looked back as they consistently kept the edge spurred by a comfortable double-digit lead right until the final buzzer.

Kaya and Katrina Mifsud led the Naxxar side to an early 10-2 lead but then came Depiro’s best run, set off with solitary hoops from Catherine Portelli and Thea Mifsud.

That was continued by Depiro’s strong forward Julia Borg and the young Danika Galea who together with Shanise Farrugia shared 50 of the Mtarfa side’s points in this final.

Going in for the interval enjoying a 36-16 lead, Depiro managed to administer the game in the second half despite Starlites’ continuous efforts to try and get back into the encounter with guard Andrea Saliba pounding in a series of buckets.

Depiro never let the game slip away, even if the second half was more balanced, and ended worthy winners of this competition.

At the end of the match, after both sides were handed the commemorative medals, Depiro’s skipper Julia Borg was presented the winning trophy by Grace Shoults, widow of ex-referee Eddie Shoults.

Depiro: T. Mifsud 5, J. Magri, E. Pisani, S. Farrugia 17, K. Fenech, J. Borg 17, A. Farrugia 3, A. Mallia 4, R. Agius 2, D. Galea 16, C. Borg, C. Portelli 4.

Starlites: A. Saliba 21, V. Micallef, N. Baldacchino, K. Mifsud 11, C. Vella 4, M. Fenech 2, M. Sciberras, S. Buhagiar, R. Micallef, K. Mifsud 7, A. Borg.

Refs: Z. Dobrosavljevic, S. Tafilica, V. Nicolic.

Starlites Mazars beat Hibernians in the men’s final.

Final u-16 Men

Starlites Mazars 62
Hibernians 52

(14-20, 16-15, 19-12, 13-5)

This was a final of two facets where Hibs had the initial initiative, driven mainly by superb shooting of Gabriel Cassar who was raining in three-pointers at ease, and then Starlites managed to overturn the score in the latter part of the second half, through tighter marking, and remained ahead till the end with Hibs visibly tiring out as minutes ticked by.

Hibernians were sharp from the start and immediately took the lead with hoops from Neil Cassar and Alex Zelalem. 

With Starlites lacking cohesion in their offensive play and defence, Hibs continued pounding and Gabriel Cassar was left a number of times with ample room to fire from long range. He took the centre stage not only with an impressive tally of six three-pointers in the first half but also with a high shooting percentage  at that mark.

Although still committing turnovers, Starlites improved a bit in the second quarter, at times pulled up by Jeremy Zammit, who seemed to be the player displaying spatial game awareness and hustle for them. Centre Louie Farrugia started making good use of his height advantage under the boards whilst Sean Aquilina netted two long rangers.

However, the Paolites, who rotated many more players during the game, were still showing the best ideas on court and further hoops from Cassar and Zelalem as well as Andrew Scicluna added to Cassar’s shots for a 35-30 half time lead.

This five-point margin remained present till midway into the third quarter as from then on, Hibs seemed to begin to tire out and lose ground whilst Starlites improved a bit on their offensive plays especially when they utilised speed in transition.

Two Adam Azzopardi treys helped Starlites take their first lead in the game and later, a Zammit lay-up moved them to 56-47 lead.

Hibs, having Gabriel Cassar totally subdued with tighter marking, seemed to be awakening when they netted five points on the go but these had to be their last and only points in the final quarter as Starlites then netted the last three hoops in the final minutes of this final.

After the game, both finalists were presented with the medals whilst Jennifer Mangani, widow of former referee Emmanuel Mangani, presented the winning trophy to the Starlites clan.

Starlites: J. Zammit 8, M. Vassallo Pulis, A. Azzopardi 14, I. Azzopardi 13, M. Farrugia, L. Farrugia 19, J. Spiteri, J. Cefai, S. Aquilina 8.

Hibs: N. Cassar 7, A. Scicluna 8, D. Brincat Dowdall, G. Caruana, T. Sciberras, L. Attard, G. Bezzina, A. Zelalem 14, S. Simic, O. Sciberras, G. Cassar 23.

Refs: L. Camilleri, N. Xuereb, Z. Dobrosavljevic.