The local women basketball season commenced with Hibernians taking home the pre-season Independence Cup for the second time in the cup’s seventh edition. With this success, the Paolites have joined Luxol and Depiro with two wins in this competition.
The four participating teams played a round robin format in the first stage of the tournament, with the top two placed teams progressing to the final.
In the first set of games, Hibs outclassed Luxol to win with a comfortable margin whilst introducing Ashley Van Vliet nee Vella in the side, a player who featured a number of times with the national team in the past years but who is in her first ever club playing stint in Malta.
In the other encounter, ARMS Depiro were awarded a 20-0 win against Starlites GIG as the latter made use, for some moments in the game, of two foreign players at the same time on the playing court. As this was against the competition rules, the 41-24 Starlites’ win was rightly overturned by the Protest Board.
The reigning champions returned on the court in the following game to face Luxol and this match resulted in a balanced one with the Violets taking an early lead. But Starlites managed to overturn the score as time progressed to finally win with a slender two-point margin.
Mainly thanks for a strong second half display, Hibs registered another notable win in their second game to make sure of a spot in the final. This time they faced Depiro who paraded their new import player, Hannah Johnson coming from the University of Washington, in this pre-season tournament.
In the last round of the group stage, Hibs ousted their rivals Starlites from the final with a 54-46 win, having 30 points shared between Van Vliet and Samantha Brincat.
In the other encounter, Luxol booked a place in the final after beating the young Depiro side whilst having three players, Kayleigh Portelli, Antoinette Borg and the returning Mandy Mercieca, after a year hiatus, all with double figures.
Although the final result of the title showdown may, at first sight, indicate some Hibs consistent superiority in the game similar to the two sides’ first encounter 24 hours earlier, this was not the case as Luxol only faltered in the last three minutes of the game. In fact they managed to not only hold their ground but also maintain a lead for a good part of the early part.
Brincat and Leanne Duncan set off Hibs to a very early lead but Sharon Vella, with a brace of hoops, set off Luxol’s point tally, before Van Vliet put Hibs again in front for a short time.
Early time-out
Luxol’s best moment in the game arrived in this moment when they set off on an 8-0 run including treys from Portelli and Julia Schembri forcing Hibs’ coach Gambino to call an early time-out.
Hibs tried to recover but Luxol managed to keep hold of a slender lead for a number of minutes.
Late in the first half, an Iona Agius three pointer brought the two sides closer until a late Duncan hoop helped the Paolites to change ends with a tight 21-20 lead.
Although Hibs set off with three early baskets in the second half, Luxol still kept their ground and hoops from Portelli and Antoinette Borg tied the game. The violets had the addition of Beverly Zammit and Sarah Pace, the latter coming very late into the game, for this final.
The only trey in the whole second half at both ends, coming off Brincat’s hands opened a four point Hibs’ lead as Luxol lost Mercieca on fouls.
Schembri did have a free throw from two for Luxol but this was to be the violet’s last point in the final as Hibs closed off the game with a hefty 16-point break, set off with five consecutive points from young Ylenia Bonett and Brincat and Duncan ending with personal double figures, although the latter’s last successful attempt in the dying seconds was uncalled for.
This was because such an action might easily lead to serious conflict in other competitions, being that both sides had by then renounced the play and accepted the outcome.
After the final buzzer, Opposition MP Ryan Callus, accompanied by the MBA president Paul Sultana, presented medals to both sides and the winning Shield to Hibs’ skipper Samantha Brincat.
Independence Cup results
Group Stage: Starlites GIG vs ARMS Depiro 41-24 (Depiro awarded a 20-0 win after Starlites fielded two foreign players together on the court); Hibernians vs Luxol 47-25; ARMS Depiro vs Hibernians 37-65; Luxol vs Starlites GIG 46-48; Starlites GIG vs Hibernians 46-54; ARMS Depiro vs Luxol 40-57
Final
Hibernians 48
Luxol 29
(21-20, 27-9)
Hibs: I. Agius 3, C. Camilleri, A. Van Vliet 7, S. Brincat 14, L. Duncan 12, J. Abela 2, B. Agius, Y. Bonett 6, N. Farrugia 2, S. Said, K. Caruana 2, M. Buhagiar
Luxol: S. Pace, B. Zammit, N. Vella, M. Mercieca 2, No. Vella, S. Vella 7, K. Portelli 6, A. Borg 6, J. Schembri 4, L. Caruana Montaldo, M. Darmanin 4
Referees: Z. Dobrosavljevic, I. Simic, K. Dworniczak
Cup History
2012 Luxol
2013 Depiro
2014 Depiro
2015 Hibs
2016 Luxol
2017 Not held
2018 Starlites
2019 Hibs