The Malta U-18 girls team had to settle for silver in the junior European Championships Division C after going down 67-53 to Cyprus in the final, played in Andorra yesterday.

As the scoreline indicates, Sandro Farrugia’s girls put up a stirring fight, especially in the opening two periods but the Cypriots proved too strong on the day to emerge as deserved winners.

The first quarter was balanced before the Cypriots potted six points in a row to open a 19-11 lead.

The second quarter was also tight with Cyprus holding a slight edge to go into the interval 36-26 ahead.

Cyprus turned the screw in the third quarter, stretching their lead to 19 points to put one hand on the trophy.

Malta tried to get back into contention but Cyprus easily administered their lead to seal a 67-53 victory.

Elene Oikonomidou was the game’s top scorer with 27 points while Christina Curmi led the way for Malta with 19 points.

Malta, who also won a silver medal last year, had eased past Gibraltar 57-22 to reach the final.

Third place in this year’s tournament went to Andorra who upstaged Gibraltar 56-47 yesterday.

Meanwhile, Malta’s U-18 boys team ended their commitments in Andorra on a positive note yesterday after beating Wales in their fifth place play-off.

Gabriele Alesse’s team broke their duck with a 63-58 victory over the Welsh.

The Maltese had lost their group matches against Monaco (57-49) and San Marino (76-69) and were also beaten by Gibraltar 66-51 in the classification matches.

Monaco captured the U-18 European Division C title after overpowering Gibraltar 66-38 in last night’s final.