PAVI Depiro beat Floriana Royce to claim the top position at the end of Phase One of the championship, meaning the Greens will not be able to defend the title they won last year after finishing outside the top four. BUPA Luxol had the better of Remax Siġġiewi and Athleta A-Z Electronics completed their calendar with a fine victory over Starlites. The semi-final pairings see Depiro play fourth-placed Luxol and runners-up Athleta face Siġġiewi. The first matches from the play-offs are scheduled for the weekend of March 22-23.

PAVI Depiro 94
Royce Floriana 76

(23-19, 21-16, 21-23, 29-18)

Floriana’s slim chances of making the top four vanished into thin air after this latest upset in the championship.

Depiro were determined to win this match to finish first and, powered by their captain Roderick Vella and Mathew Adekponya, they seized the initiative right from the start to pave the way for a morale-boosting victory in a high-scoring encounter.

Depiro did not have the opening they might have wished for. So, coach Mario Tabone opted for a time-out and with Andrew Aquilina in the side, the league leaders got going.

Floriana were forced to substitute Derek Elston after committing his third foul. That did not help their cause and trailed 44-35 at the break.

With Elston back on court and Dirk Schembri more accurate in his conclusions, Floriana held on.

Then, midway through the third quarter, referee Stephen Micallef collided with a Floriana player and had to leave the court for treatment.

Depiro started the last ten minutes 65-58 ahead and with Floriana visibly tiring out, they added more points to their tally for a pronounced victory.

Depiro: R. Vella 17, M. Adekponya 40, N. Sultana 2, A. Aquilina 9, A. Portelli 4, S. Bartolo 5, A. Axiaq 8, E. Lupo 3, I. Tanti 6, M. Agius.

Floriana: O. Shamala, D. Elston 26, D. Camilleri 12, P. Shoults 9, S. Borg, B. Zammit 3, C. Calleja 6, D. Schembri 20, D. Agius.

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

BUPA Luxol 82
Remax Siġġiewi 78

(19-28, 17-11, 24-23, 22-16)

Luxol marked their last match in this qualifying phase of the league with a victory that went some way to avenge their defeat to Siġġiewi in the opening round.

Siġġiewi, without playmaker Alan Borg, led for most of the match but, again, they were let down by their lack of discipline on court and teamwork.

After a balanced start, Siġġiewi took the upperhand but Luxol’s performance improved as the second session got underway.

However, they lost coach John Tabone who was ejected after committing a second technical foul.

Siġġiewi took advantage to regain a 37-29 lead only for Luxol to come back before the interval and close the gap to just three points – 39-36.

The third quarter was a ding-dong affair, so, all was set for a tense final 10-minute session.

Siġġiewi seemed on their way towards victory when with a couple of minutes left on the clock they were enjoying an eight-point lead, 78-70.

But Luxol’s press tactics forced Siġġiewi to lose various possessions and 12 consecutive points, mostly potted by Michael Myers Keitt, saw them clinch an unlikely victory.

Luxol: C.J. Cordina, M. Mercieca 3, A. Micallef 5, N. Andrevic, J. Willoughby, J.P. Schembri, N. Vasovic 4, J.P. Bonnici, M. Myers Keitt 37, A. Micallef Trigona 3, S. Deguara 30, S. Capello.

Siġġiewi: C. Maier 12, A. Debattista, S. Sammut 14, E. Xuereb, L. Camilleri 5, L. Ross 16, J.P. Antoncich, I. Hoeger 27, M. Mallia, M. Matijevic 4.

Referees: E. Mangani, C. Terribile.

Athleta A-Z Electronics 86
Starlites Naxxar 59

(20-19, 19-15, 24-12, 23-13)

Athleta warmed up for the Louis Borg Cup final against Luxol with a clear victory over Starlites despite having Canadian Chad Patus unavailable.

Marco Todorovic found little help from his team-mates at Starlites with forward Robert Bonnici also having an off day.

Captain Michael Naudi was again the protagonist for Athleta with 28 points.

Starlites did pretty well in the first two quarters of the match. In fact, at half-time they were only five points behind – 39-34.

But Athleta clicked into gear after the break and, turning the ball fast against the slow-moving Starlites’ defence, they took control of the proceedings to make sure of a comfortable victory.

Athleta: M. Naudi 28, M. Kaster, D. Bugeja 12, O. Said 12, S. Pace 6, K. Baldacchino 4, S. Bischoff 7, S. Schembri 17.

Starlites: M. Todorovic 40, R. Loporto 2, R. Bonnici 5, A. Schembri, S. Bonnici 4, J. Curmi, A. Cutajar, B. Soler, J. Zammit 4, G. Coleiro 4.

Referees: E. Mangani, T. Helenius.

Standings
Depiro 18 (8-2), Athleta 17 (7-3), Siġġiewi 16 (6-4), Luxol 15 (5-5), Floriana 13 (3-7), Starlites 11 (1-9).

Top scorers: M. Myers Keitt (Luxol) 294, M. Todorovic (Starlites) 273, D. Elston (Floriana) 258, I. Hoeger (Siġġiewi) 213, C. Patus (Athleta) 173, S. Deguara (Luxol) 173.

Louis Borg Cup final: Sunday (first leg) 16.30 Athleta vs BUPA Luxol. March 19 (second leg) 16.30 BUPA Luxol vs Athleta.