Athleta A-Z Electronics and Floriana Royce started their St James Hospital Shield commitments with victories on Sunday. Athleta, Siġġiewi and Starlites are in Group A and Group B is composed of Floriana, Depiro and Luxol. A rule introduced for this competition only this year says there must always be an under-23 player on court.

Athleta A-Z Electronics 74
Starlites 52

(18-13, 20-12, 21-8, 15-19)

Early-season in-form team Athleta were in a class of their own and never troubled by newcomers Starlites who replaced Loyola in the top flight.

Though Athleta did not utilise Omar Said and Kristen Baldacchino, they were still good enough to dominate Ray Muscat’s team right from the jumpball.

Starlites did well to keep in touch in the opening quarter and with former Athleta forward Marco Todorovic potting the points, Starlites were only trailing 19-24 a few minutes from half-time.

But then, Joe Galea’s men regained control to change ends 38-25 ahead and they never looked back.

In fact, Athleta started the last ten minutes leading 59-33 after which they administered their lead expertly to start the competition on a sound footing.

Athleta: M. Naudi 11, H. Soufian, D. Bugeja 20, C. Patus 26, M. Giusti 1, O. Said, S. Pace 2, B. Bartoli 3, K. Baldacchino, W. Spiteri 1, S. Schembri 10.

Starlites: M. Todorovic 21, R. Loporto, R. Bonnici 2, S. Bonnici 14, A. Cutajar 2, A. Scerri, G. Szokreny 9, B. Soler 4.

Referees: E. Mangani, C. Terribile, L. Camilleri.

PAVI Depiro 55
Floriana Royce 66

(7-16, 20-13, 12-18, 16-19)

Depiro were unable to field foreign player Turrel Harris for this match due to delayed paperwork.

However, Floriana still struggled to impose their game and Depiro have only themselves to blame for a series of missed shots from the free-throw line.

Floriana had the better start to pot the first six points. Depiro hit back to go 7-6 in front but they failed to add another point by the end of the quarter, allowing the Greens to open a 16-7 lead.

Depiro closed the gap to a single basket (22-20) by the sixth minute and that’s how it stayed until the break with Floriana just managing a two-point lead – 29-27.

After the interval Depiro did manage to even matters but the champions then hit a fine patch to go 38-31 up. Depiro tried hard to get back into the match once again but Floriana kept their opponents at a distance to seal victory.

Depiro: R. Vella 16, B. Zammit 2, N. Sultana 10, A. Aquilina 5, A. Portelli, A. Axiaq 6, E. Lupo, I. Tanti 16, M. Mallia.

Floriana: O. Somali, D. Elston 28, D. Camilleri 8, P. Shoults 9, S. Borg 4, J. Curmi, C. Calleja 2, D. Schembri 15, S. Saakian, D. Agius.

Referees: E. Mangani, C. Terribile, S. Gouder.

Women’s Shield

In the women’s Shield, PAVI Depiro disposed of Phoenix Petrus Loyola in Group A while Starlites Sports Experience surprised Hibs in a Group B qualifier.

With Joycelyn Petenkin in an unstoppable mood, Depiro had already established a 40-4 lead by half-time.

Phoenix, who played without a foreigner, showed better qualities after the interval but this did not prevent Depiro from running out clear winners 74-23.

Joselle Borg Cardona was the only experienced player in the Hibs team as Lucienne Bezzina called it a day and Antoinette Borg rejoined Depiro.

Starlites had Rina Phelps in their ranks and the US player potted more than half of her team’s total – 24 points.

The game was balanced in the opening two quarters with the lead changing hands several times before Phoenix went in for half-time 28-24 ahead.

As soon as the third quarter got underway, Phoenix extended their advantage to ten points (34-24).

Hibs were unable to wipe out that deficit as Phoenix won the tie 47-37.

Next fixtures
Sunday: (Women) MBA Shield 11.45am Starlites vs Luxol, 2.45pm Athleta vs Depiro.
Sunday: (Men) MBA Shield 1pm Depiro vs Luxol, 4.30pm Starlites vs Siġġiewi.

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