Luxol’s march in the women’s league was halted by Depiro on Sunday.

Honey Athleta are the sole leaders of the women’s basketball league thanks to their victory over bottom-placed Petrus Phoenix as Caffe Moak Luxol failed to keep the pace at the top of the standings after going down to PAVI Depiro on Sunday.

Luxol had foreigner Patricia Bright on the bench for the first two quarters and trailed 18-10 to Depiro who profited from the situation to impose their play in the early stages of the match.

Luxol improved as the second quarter got underway but Depiro stayed in control and held their lead until half-time – 31-23.

But Luxol continued to show fighting spirit and came back in the last minutes of the third quarter to close the gap to five points, 43-38, before the last 10 minutes got underway.

However, their hopes were dashed as Depiro hit a fine patch to extend their lead to 59-43 before finishing 70-52 winners.

As anticipated, Athleta had little difficulty in beating lowly Phoenix last weekend.

At the end of the first quarter, Honey Athleta had already built a comfortable 27-7 lead before changing ends 43-18 in front.

Athleta lifted their foot off the pedal but still finished well ahead of their modest opponents – 66-33.

Hibs, meanwhile, continue to misfire badly and got beaten by Starlites who retained their slim hopes for a place in the play-offs.

Hibs’ aspirations of victory were practically ended in the opening minutes of the third quarter when Starlites extended their lead to 20 points – 45-25.

The Paolites did lift their game in the last ten-minute session but only managed to make the score look more respectable as Starlites won it 61-50.

Standings: Athleta 15 (7-1), Luxol 14 (6-2), Depiro 13 (5-3), Hibs 12 (4-4), Starlites 10 (2-6), Phoenix 8 (0-8).

Top scorers: R. Phelp (Starlites) 175, C. Woodley (Hibs) 167, P. Bright (Luxol) 165, I. Ofamata (Athleta) 146, S. DeMartino (Luxol) 124.

BOV KO final: (Sunday) 14.45 Depiro vs Luxol.