Comfortable victories for top three teams

Hibs Medsea and Luxol, the joint leaders in the Women’s League, along with third-placed Depiro McDonald’s, underlined their superiority over the rest of the field with comfortable victories over the weekend at the expense of Loyola, Athleta and St Andrews respectively.

Hibs met little resistance from Loyola. The champions opened a 46-13 lead by half-time and with Loyola unable to offer any kind of resistance, Hibs went on to win 85-25.

Athleta produced better fare against Luxol. They shared the exchanges for most of the first two quarters with Luxol changing ends 29-20 in front.

However, Athleta failed to keep the pace as the match restarted. Luxol were more aggressive in attack to win 50-31 and stay on the same track with Hibs at the top of the table.

Depiro-St Andrews was a mismatch. In fact, Depiro were in control right from the jumpball and took a 33-4 lead by half-time.

St Andrews lifted their game after the break but were still miles behind their opponents who won 69-29.

The other match from the Women’s League last weekend was a close affair, involving two sides, Starlites and Mtarfa, in search of their first victory.

In the end, it was Starlites who clinched victory 38-36. They led 9-5 in the early stages but Mtarfa hit back to go 15-9 in front by the end of the first quarter.

Mtarfa continued to hold an edge until half-time (24-17) but just before the third quarter was over Starlites nosed ahead 21-19.

Balance prevailed for the rest of the match with Starlites succeeding in holding on to their slender lead.

Standings: Hibs 6 (3-3), Luxol 6 (3-3), Depiro 5 (2-1), Athleta 4 (1-2), Loyola 4 (1-2), St Andrews 4 (1-2), Starlites 4 (1-2), Mtarfa 3 (0-3).

Top scorers: L. Bezzina (Hibs) 54, K. Agius (Depiro) 50, B. Zammit (Luxol) 47, A. Borg (Depiro) 47, S. Demartino (Luxol) 44.

Next fixtures: Friday 6.15 p.m. Athleta vs Loyola, 7.45 p.m. Luxol vs Mtarfa. Saturday 2 p.m. St Andrews vs Hibs, Sunday 2.30 p.m. Starlites vs Depiro.