Starlites Naxxar 55
Depiro   64
(14-16, 11-13, 15-14, 15-21)

Depiro broke their duck in the league this season as they chalked up their first win to rekindle their hopes of a place in the play-offs.

Depiro had an early seven-point run but play was very balanced and the lead changed hands a number of times.

Depiro, again under coach Adrian Mifsud, had their trio of Samantha Brincat, Gaby Mifsud and Carlee Schumacher being a constant offensive threat for their opponents.

Starlites looked up to Patricia Arguello and centre Josephine Grima for points although young prospect Kristy Galea also had a fine performance coming off the bench.

It was again tit-for-tat in the third period with Starlites having a late lead that was neutralised with two Brincat treys for a 43-40 Depiro lead.

Midway through the last quarter, Depiro potted a 10-2 run which gave them what looked like a game-winning edge.

Starlites fought back strongly and re-opened the issue in the next couple of minutes.

However, another 11-0 Depiro break made sure of their first league win, giving coach Mifsud something to cheer about.

Starlites:  K. Galea 13, J. Doughty, S. Farrugia 4, J. Milekic, K. Pirotta, J. Micallef, J. Grima 14, P. Arguello 16, E. Magrin, S. Davis 4, A. Lupo 4.

Depiro: A. Mifsud, G. Mifsud 14, H. Acreman, S. Brincat 14, M. Bonett 2, C. Camilleri,  N. Agius 9, M. Scicluna, C. Schumacher 17, T. DeMartino 8, C. Ciantar.

Referees: B. Vassallo, J. Mangani, Z. Dobrosavljevic.

Caffe Moak Luxol             65
Hibernians           64
(8-6, 16-17, 19-15, 11-16 – 11-10)

Hibernians came very close to making it a double over Luxol but in the end the champions just managed to notch their fifth league win after overtime.

The game had a very slow start as the lead alternated continuously. At the interval, Luxol, who had Steffi Demartino on the sidelines through injury, led 24-23.

After the break, Luxol opened a five-point lead, 43-38, with Sarah Pace and Attirah Munir in the thick of the action and Ina Baena Medina chipping in with a couple of treys.

Silvia Gambino and Trudy Armstead, and points from Maria Said and Naomi Farrugia, put Hibs back in contention to set up a tight finale. Then, Mandy Mercieca seemed to have given Luxol the win but Gambino struck late to force overtime – 54-54.

The five extra minutes were again very competitive until it all boiled down to the last play where Pace, with just over a second from the buzzer, potted one of her free-throws to notch the win for Luxol.

Luxol: S. Pace 20, M. Mercieca 4, A. Munir 14, I. Baena Medina 11, N. Vella 2, K. Portelli, A. Calleja, P. Ellul 5, L. Caruana Montaldo, M. Darmanin 1, C. Curmi 8.

Hibs: E. Micallef, E. Cassar 2, S. Gambino 12, I. Agius 6, K. Caruana, M. Said 6, N. Vella, K. Portanier Mifsud, N. Farrugia 8, T. Armstead 20, A. Marinkovic,  J. Scerri 10.

Referees: Z. Dobrosavljevic, J. Mangani, I. Marjanovic.

Standings

Luxol (5-1) 11; Athleta (4-1) 9; Depiro (1-5) 7; Starlites (2-2) 6; Hibernians (1-4) 6.