ARMS DEPIRO 61
STARLITES GIG 88

(14-35, 18-15, 18-15, 11-23)

A hefty 24-2 streak in the middle six minutes of the first quarter paved the way for Starlites’ second league win.

Depiro did improve offensively later in the game, bringing down the deficit momentarily to eight points in the third quarter, but the reigning champions had two further positive runs of nine and 10 points respectively to regain the clear upper edge.

After a balanced start, Starlites, who were leading 7-5, set off on an 18-point consecutive streak by Michela Zammit Cordina assisted by Patricia Arguello, Stephanie Demartino and Anthea Micallef.

Starlites’ young guard Zammit Cordina, who teams up well with another young talent Mikela Riolo and was voted as the 2018-19 U-19 Player of the Year last weekend, was very happy with her team’s performance. 

“We played as a team unit and we adopted a fast tempo which was a joy. We were running at both ends, had a number of steals and fast breaks,” said Zammit Cordina. 

“The inclusion of Demartino helped us to become a more complete unit. We are working a lot to create more internal bonding. I think we are improving as we also learn from our mistakes.”

With the score 18-43, Depiro closed off the first half with more precision in their shooting with treys from Nicole and Danielle Agius helping American Hannah Johnson for a 14-5 positive spurt to make it 50-32 at the interval.

The third quarter was a more balanced affair with Johnson leading her young team-mates. 

“We should believe more that we could compete,” Johnson said.

“We need to be more focused to keep our intensity and consistency throughout the game, especially when the score gets close.  We have to be careful with getting the rebounds and be quicker in our defensive transitions.”

A ten-point run early in the last rubber ascertained Starlites’ superiority as they then cruised to a comfortable win.

DEPIRO: No. Agius, T. Mifsud , N. Agius 9, D. Agius 7, J. Borg 2, N. Borg 2, M. Scicluna 4, C. Ciantar 8,  S. Farrugia 3, N. Ebejer, H. Johnson 26,  E. Cassar.

STARLITES: M. Zammit Cordina 18, M. Riolo 5, A. Micallef 8, S. Farrugia 4, M. Bonett 6, F. Fabok 3, C. Curmi 4, S. DeMartino 21, P. Arguello 15, M. Cutajar, A. Lupo 4. 

Referees: Z. Dobrosavljevic, L. Camilleri, S. Jafilica.
 

LUXOL 46
HIBERNIANS 55

(14-17, 8-11, 11-14, 13-13)

Eleven points on the trot in a three-minute spell midway through the first quarter helped Hibs to overturn the score in their favour and from then on they never lost the lead till the final buzzer even if Luxol showed resilience and always were close to their heels right up until almost the end.   

Sarah Pace gave Luxol an early lead with her team’s first five points. 

“Once again we played quite well but ended up losing,” Pace said.

“Possibly we are searching for that turning point where a game comes where we all click and gel together. We need to work harder on shooting as we managed to get free today but we were not so precise. We also lacked penetrations in the second half,” added the Luxol experienced guard who finished as the top point getter in the game.

Last season’s Player of the Year, Samantha Brincat set off Hibs’ first run with a trey. Then her teammates Kirsty Caruana and Ashleigh Van Vliet notched 
further shots.

Luxol managed to reply almost immediately as they came back to a mere basket away but Hibs managed to maintain the upper edge in a very low scoring second quarter with only 19 points scored by both teams in ten minutes.

Six points separated the two sides at the change of ends.

Early in the second half, Hibs opened a double-digit lead after a Caruana floater for 37-27. The Hibs young forward said that the Hibs coach tried to utilise a lot of players.

“We integrated well and had many positives. However, there is room for improvement especially in defence,” said Caruana.

Early last quarter treys from Pace and Monique Caruana reduced the gap to six points. This gap remained constant for five minutes as both sides replied continuously to each other’s efforts.

In the last two minutes, Hibs managed to make sure of the win when they scored six consecutive points, including four free throws from their best scorer Van Vliet.

LUXOL: S. Pace 19, M. Mercieca 8, N. Vella, I. Baena 7, No. Vella, C. Sollami, K. Portelli 3, A. Borg, J. Schembri, M. Caruana 6, P. Ellul, B. Zammit 3.

HIBS: I. Agius, J. Xerri 2, A. Van Vliet 13, S. Brincat 10, L. Duncan 4, J. Abela, Y. Bonett 3, M. Said 2, N. Farrugia 7, K. Calleja, K. Caruana 10, M. Buhagiar 4.  

Referees: I. Simic, L. Camilleri, S. Jafilica.

Standings

Hibs, Starlites GIG 4; ARMS Depiro, Luxol 2.