First points for Hibs and Depiro in SF series
Luxol 52Hibs Melita Gardens 65(19-20, 8-14, 17-14, 8-17) Hibs always rise to the occasion when it matters most and this first match from the women’s semi-finals was no exception as though having captain Lucienne Bezzina on the bench they were still...
Luxol 52
Hibs Melita Gardens 65
(19-20, 8-14, 17-14, 8-17)
Hibs always rise to the occasion when it matters most and this first match from the women’s semi-finals was no exception as though having captain Lucienne Bezzina on the bench they were still strong enough to beat Christof Stolf team with a sound margin.
Luxol broke the early-match equilibrium with eight consecutive points (17-10) but Bruno DiPiet-rantonio’s girls hit back with ten points in succession to lead 20-19 at the end of the first quarter before changing ends 34-27 ahead.
Luxol came within a point of Hibs after the break as the latter held on to start the last ten minutes 48-44 in front.
Six quick points with six minutes left saw Hibs stretching their lead to 56-47. Luxol lost the pace and their reaction was confused, leaving the way open for Hibs to seal the issue by potting the last nine points of the match.
Luxol: S. Pace 14, M. Sciortino 9, C. Medina, B. Naudi, G. Zarb 2, P. Ellul, R. Murphy 18, D. Muscat, A. Paul, B. Zammit 9.
Hibs: J. Scerri, E. Cassar 16, M. Zammit, L. Bezzina, F. Mifsud, M. Desira 11, K. Gatt, A. Cutajar, N. Arrigo, K. Baldacchino 7, J. Cardona 11, L. Gipson 20.
Depiro McDonald’s 69
Alyssa Ashley Loyola 50
(14-9, 14-9, 14-19, 27-13)
The in-form Steffi DeMartino potted 28 points as Depiro domi-nated the last quarter to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
After a balanced start, Depiro potted the last five points of the session and in the last minutes before half-time Adrian Mifsud’s team went on to extend their lead to 28-18.
Loyola came more into the picture after the interval and gradually clawed their way back into contention to finish the third quarter only a basket behind – 34-32.
However, the hopes of Ruth Spiteri’s team vanished in thin air as Depiro had the better start to the last quarter to go 49-38 in front.
Loyola tried hard but never gave the impression they were good enough on the day to recover as Depiro cruised to victory.
Depiro: A. Mifsud, G. Mifsud, M. Bonett, S. Brincat 10, V. Woods 16, F. Bianco 8, T. DeMartino, A. Borg 7, C. Sammut, M. Mifsud, S. Micallef, S. DeMartino 28.
Loyola: E. Moore 7, C. Groma 15, J. Doughty 7, D. Hollier, K. Tonna 3, A. Bonanno 2, J. Mangion, A. Sciberras, S. Barbara 2, D. Johnson 14.
Next fixture
Thursday: (Game 2, semi-finals) 18.15 Loyola vs Depiro, 20.00 Hibs vs Luxol.