Loyola sure of top-three berth

Thanks to Depiro's victory over Kerygma last weekend, Loyola Xuereb Installations became the third team to book a place in the Championship Pool. They now join champions Hibs Medsea and Depiro in the second phase of the women's basketball championship.

Hibs maintained their unbeaten record after outclassing SN Suns as Loyola had the better of Sliema Wanderers in another match.

Kerygma needed victory against Depiro to stay in contention for a top three placing. However, after keeping in touch with their opponents, Kerygma were nowhere to be seen in the last ten minutes of the match.

Depiro had opened strongly as they dominated underneath the boards but Daniel Bugeja's girls stayed in the game even though they could not prevent Depiro from holding a 22-14 half-time lead.

After a balanced third quarter, Depiro made the most of Kerygma's erratic play in attack before romping to a 60-37 victory.

Loyola met strong resistance from Sliema Wanderers. They led 15-8 by the end of the first quarter but Sliema came back to reduce the gap to a single point by half-time 25-24.

Each time Loyola tried to pull away, they were caught again by Sliema who started the last ten minutes five points behind, 43-38.

However, any hopes the Wanderers had of causing an upset were brushed aside in the last quarter when Loyola opened a cushion lead which they preserved for a 57-47 win.

As expected, Hibs were never troubled as they cruised past SN Suns on their way to their 11th successive victory in the regular season. The champs won 101-18.

Standings: Hibs (11-0) 22, Depiro (8-2) 18, Loyola (7-3) 17, Kerygma (6-5) 17, Luxol (4-6) 14, Sliema (2-8) 12, SN Suns (0-11) 11.

Peugeot League: Friday, 6.15 p.m. Depiro vs Sliema. Sunday, 12.45 p.m. SN Suns vs Luxol. 2.30 p.m. Loyola vs Hibs.

Gatorade League: Friday, 7.45 p.m. Luxol vs Floriana. Saturday, 4.15 p.m. Depiro vs Qormi. Sunday, 4.15 p.m. Siggiewi vs Dakar.