With two rounds of matches to go to the end of the regular season, Caffe Moak Luxol and Gżira Athleta are assured of their play-off spots. They will be playing for the top spot on Sunday in a direct clash.

Starlites, Depiro and Hibs are tussling for the other two berths but now the pressure is all on the Paolites as they need to win their encounters against direct rivals to keep their hopes alive.

Depiro 48
Starlites Naxxar 40

(10-12, 13-11, 14-8, 11-9)

Depiro achieved an important win to leapfrog Starlites to distance themselves from fifth-placed Hibs who they meet in the last game before the play-offs.

The first half was extremely balanced, ending at par 23-23.

Starlites, still without Josep-hine Grima, had an early 12-4 run with guard Kristy Galea scoring from long distance but Depiro quickly replied mainly through Carlee Schumacher and Samantha Brincat.

In the second quarter, Patricia Arguello started finding more space and helped Starlites maintain the pace.

A 9-2 Depiro run at the start of the second half was quite influential on the final result as Starlites now had an uphill task to get back into the game and despite Jaelle Micallef’s points, there were six points between the sides, 37-31, with ten minutes to go.

With both sides very precise in their shooting, Depiro managed to make good use of their superiority in offensive rebounds and maintain their lead in the final quarter to increase their hopes of reaching the last four series.

Depiro: A. Mifsud, G. Mifsud  2, M. Balzaraviciute 5, S. Brincat 14, M. Bonett, N. Agius, M. Scicluna, C. Schumacher 19,  J. Xuereb 8, T. DeMartino, C. Ciantar

Starlites: J. Micallef 11, K. Galea 10, J. Doughty 3, K. Pirotta 1, J. Grima, P. Arguello 13, A. Micallef, S. Farrugia 2.

Referees: B. Vassallo, K. Dvorni-kzac, M. Rajczi.

Hibernians 52
Caffe Moak Luxol 66

(12-16, 15-25, 13-9, 12-16)

Luxol, without Stephanie Demartino, dealt a blow to Hibs’ hopes after opening a significant lead in the second quarter and never looking back to seal the win.

The first quarter was a tit-for-tat affair with the Paolites having most of the lead until Paula Ellul’s points for Luxol put them 16-12 in front.

A strong Luxol start to the second quarter saw them potting an 11-2 run and, although Hibs finally managed a reply with long distance shots, Luxol still changed ends 41-27 in front.

Centre Trudy Armstead tried hard to put Hibs back into the game but baskets from Sarah Pace and Attirah Munir were instrumental for Luxol to preserve a double digit lead, 50-40, at the end of the third quarter.

Hibs went momentarily close to Luxol but the latter team made sure of the victory with a decisive run of 14 consecutive points.

Hibs: E. Micallef 3, E. Cassar 17, S. Gambino 5, I. Agius 2, K. Caruana, N. Vella, N. Farrugia, T. Armstead 21, J. Scerri 4.

Luxol: S. Pace 15, M. Mercieca 7, A. Munir 10, I. B. Medina 7, K. Portelli, C. Sollami 2, P. Ellul 11, L. Caruana Montaldo, M. Darmanin, C. Curmi 14.

Referees: S. Micallef, C. Farrugia, M. Rajczi.

Standings
Luxol (9-2) 20; Athleta (7-3) 17; Depiro (4-7) 15; Starlites (4-6) 14; Hibernians (2-8) 12.

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