With Luxol not in action last weekend, Depiro McDonald’s profited to take sole leadership in the women’s basketball league standings after powering past Phoenix Qormi Petrus 92-49.
Depiro’s sixth victory in the league came at the expense of a timid Qormi side who offered little resistance.
Qormi stayed in touch until the end of the first quarter (21-15) but after that it was all Depiro who changed ends 34-26 ahead.
The game then became a no-contest as Depiro continued to pile up the baskets, going close to reaching the 100-point mark in the end.
Hibs moved a step closer to the play-offs thanks to their victory over Honey Athleta in the most interesting match of the weekend programme.
The Paolites had some key players missing but did well to repel Athleta’s last frantic efforts to chalk up their fifth victory of the season.
Hibs led from the opening minutes but after extending their advantage to 26-12, they allowed Athleta to get back into the match and reduce the deficit to 26-18 at half-time.
The start of the third quarter saw Hibs increase their lead to 30-20 but Athleta never wilted and cut the gap to four points (37-33) before the last quarter got underway.
The last 10 minutes were balanced. Hibs had possession with only a handful of seconds to go and leading 55-51 when Sanga was handed a dubious anti-sportsmanship foul.
Athleta captain Leanne Sciberras potted the two free-throws for her team to move a basket away.
However, they gave away possession at that crucial stage, allowing young Emma Micallef to make sure of Hibs’ victory with two free-throws – 57-53.
In the other match, Loyola, as expected, made it a double over bottom-placed Starlites.
After a good start, Loyola allowed Starlites to recover and narrow the margin to 17-12 at the end of the first quarter. Loyola lifted their efforts and at half-time the score was 40-23 in their favour.
Loyola continued to dictate matters for a comfortable 77-49 victory.
Standings: Depiro 13 (6-1); Loyola 12 (5-2); Hibs 12 (5-2); Luxol 11 (5-1); Athleta 9 (2-5); Qormi 8 (1-6); Starlites 6 (0-6).
Top scorers: Brittaney Thomas (Qormi) 227, Brietta Thomas (Loyola) 217, S. Demartino (Depiro) 172, S. Sanga ( Hibs) 153, A. Ratomska (Athleta) 124.
Louis Borg Cup SFs: Friday (first legs) 18.15 Depiro vs Athleta, 20.00 Luxol vs Loyola. Sunday (second legs) 11.15 Athleta vs Depiro, 14.45 Loyola vs Luxol.