Alyssa Ashley Loyola caused the greatest upset of the season so far when they stunned the more-fancied Depiro McDonald’s to reach the final of the Detur Shield. Their opponents will be Hibs Medsea who had the better of Luxol, the shield holders.

Depiro had knocked out Loyola from the Louis Borg Cup but the latter gained revenge last weekend as they reached their first final after recording a 61-50 win.

Once again, Christine Grima was the inspiration behind Loyola’s success but Kathleen Gouder also made a rich contribution with her strong defending on Depiro’s top scorer Kalia Agius who has not fully recovered from an ankle injury.

It was Depiro who enjoyed the better start to open a seven-point lead, 11-4. Loyola bounced back to move ahead by the end of the quarter, 14-13. Led by veteran Ruth Spiteri, Loyola maintained their dominance to extend their advantage to 32-20 at half-time.

Depiro doubled their efforts after the interval but Loyola stood their ground to begin the final quarter 50-40 ahead. With Depiro unable to up their rhythm, Loyola held on for a 61-50 victory.

Hibs, under the guidance of Nathalie Buhagiar, avenged their league defeat to Luxol. The latter started on the right footing to go 9-3 ahead but Hibs came back to narrow the deficit to three points, 11-8, by the end of the first quarter.

The second session was a balanced affair as Luxol kept their slender lead to change ends 29-26 ahead. Luxol were a nervous lot after lemon time and Hibs took advantage to start the last 10 minutes 36-30 ahead.

Nine consecutive points opened the way for Hibs’ victory as Buhagiar’s girls controlled their lead for a comfortable 59-42 victory.

Next fixtures: League – Friday, 19.45 Depiro vs Loyola. Saturday,14.00 Hibs vs Athleta; 15.45 Luxol vs Starlites. Sunday, 14.30 Mtarfa vs St Andrew’s.