Hibernians and Luxol to contest final

Luxol and Hibs Melita Garden will contest the Louis Borg Cup final, scheduled for January 28-29, after they disposed of Athleta and Depiro McDonald’s in last weekend’s semi-finals.

Much more was expected from the Depiro girls as they were completely swept aside by the Paolites in Saturday’s first leg which saw Hibernians surging to a crushing 72-27 victory and all but book their place in the final.

After a balanced start, Hibs started pulling away to lead 23-7 by the end of the first quarter and 35-14 at half-time. The third session was evenly balanced but in the final ten minutes Hibs regained their rampant form to pot 25 points and seal a dominant display.

Sunday’s second leg was a far closer affair with Depiro taking an early lead which they retained until the interval, 25-24.

Depiro then stepped up a gear to start the final session 39-29 ahead.

In a high-scoring quarter, Depiro stretched their advantage to 59-42 but Hibs regrouped to bridge the gap to 10 points, 64-54, and qualify 126-90 on aggregate.

In the other semi-final, Luxol overturned a first-leg deficit to secure the tie 116-107 on aggregate.

Saturday’s first leg was close with Luxol enjoying a one-point lead at the interval, 36-35. In the last two sessions, Athleta looked slightly better and went on to score a five-point victory ahead of the second leg. But Luxol started Sunday’s match in style, potting eight consecutive points to surge 18-10 ahead after the opening quarter.

Athleta’s fightback failed to materialise and Luxol kept up the momentum, surging 50-23 ahead in the third quarter before securing victory and a passage to the final.

National league: January 7, 13.45 Qormi vs Hibs. January 8, 11.15 Depiro vs Starlites; 13.00 Loyola vs Athleta.