Siġġiewi Derby 76
Depiro Mtarfa 56
(25-14, 17-10, 22-16, 12-16)

Siġġiewi stayed on course to defend the MBA Detur Shield title after a straightforward win over Depiro Mtarfa in the semi-finals.

Depiro tried to put up a fight but faltered after the fifth minute of the opening session as Siġġiewi pulled away to open a comfortable lead.

Siġġiewi made the better start but two consecutive three-pointers moved Depiro 10-6 ahead. Good passing in attack, coupled with a series of precise shots, enabled Siġġiewi to exploit Depiro’s weak defence and finish the first quarter 25-14 ahead.

The pattern remained uncha-nged as Siġġiewi kept piling up the points to go 34-17 ahead by the fourth minute of the second quarter. Coach Peter Farrugia then decided to rest pivot Marco Matijevic and Depiro got more into the picture until half-time.

But, Siġġiewi retained the edge after the interval to take a 24-point lead, 64-40, into the last 10 minutes. And, despite having some key players on the bench for most of the final quarter, Siġġiewi easily withheld Depiro’s efforts to wrap up victory.

Siġġiewi: P. Shoults 5, M. Pisani 2, M. Shoults 7, J. Doughty 2, E. Xuereb 1, N. Sultana 17, A. Borg 6, A. Micallef 21, K. Borg, J. Jetsen 6, M. Matjevic 9.

Depiro: R. Vella 14, J.P. Schembri, D. Bugeja 16, G. Merceica, A. Aquilina 8, J. Gatt 5, J. Camilleri, E. Lupo 4, A. Mallia 1, I. Tanti 8, F. Agius.

Referees: B. Vassallo, J.P. Sammut, E. Mangani.

Athleta A to Z Electronics 75
BUPA Luxol 58
(16-12, 14-9, 23-13, 22-24)

Athleta drew on their experience to punish the Luxol youngsters from fast breaks. Athleta duo Dirk and Steve Schembri had a good match against their former team-mates to set up a final against Siġġiewi.

Luxol continued to show progress on previous outings and kept in touch with their opponents until the fifth minute of the second quarter – 18-16.

As happened before this season, Luxol’s eagerness to claw back the deficit saw them resort to individual play. This worked to Athleta’s advantage as Joe Galea’s men recouped possession and mou-nted fast breaks against the slow-recovering Luxol to open a 30-21 lead at half-time.

In the third quarter, Luxol were let down by the impatience of their tall players who tried to force their way through the Athleta defence. Again, Athleta exploited their opponents’ flaws to all but secure victory as they led 53-34 going into the final quarter.

Going for three-point attempts, Luxol battled hard to get back into contention but they never looked capable of putting pressure on Athleta.

Athleta: M. Naudi 16, J. Zammit, D. Schembri 21, M. Giusti, C. Galea, O. Said 9, C. Calleja 2, A. Bonnici 5, K. Baldacchino 8, S. Schembri 14.

Luxol: M. Mercieca 4, R. Azzopardi 11, A. Micallef Trigona, C. Cordina, A. Costa 11, N. Vasovic 10, T. Paris 2, A. Cremona 10, E. Caruana Montaldo 3, J. P. Bonnici 7.

Referees: G. Barbara, A. Carbonaro, C. Terribile.

Detur Shield final
Sunday, 4.15 p.m. Siġġiewi vs Athleta A to Z Electronics.

Hibs sole leaders

Hibs Medsea took sole leadership in the standings as Luxol succumbed to their first defeat when going down to Depiro McDonald’s.

Last weekend, Hibs cantered past Starlites Sports Experience, Loyola Alyssa Ashley had the better of St Andrews and Athleta were never troubled by Mtarfa Guzel Pinar.

Depiro made the most of Luxol’s slow start to remain in touch with champions Hibs.

Before Luxol could settle down, Depiro had already raced into a 20-4 lead. Luxol improved but this was not enough to stop Depiro changing ends 34-25 ahead.

After a balanced third quarter, Luxol increased their efforts as the last 10 minutes got underway. An 8-2 break moved them to within three points of Depiro, 52-49. Both sides struggled to handle the pressure but Depiro scored the last five points to secure a 59-52 victory.

Hibs had an easy outing against Starlites. They opened an 18-point lead, 25-7 lead, by the end of the first quarter and went on to change ends 44-15 ahead. With Starlites unable to raise their game, Hibs eased to an 86-30 victory.

The Loyola-St Andrews match was a balanced affair. Both teams took their time to find their touch as baskets were rare in the first quarter, 8-5.

Points came more regularly in the second session as St Andrews held on to a slender 20-19 lead at half-time. Loyola did well to overturn the deficit as the third quarter commenced, 27-22, and hard as they tried St Andrews could not wipe out the gap as Loyola won 47-46.

Athleta returned to winning ways against lowly Mtarfa 64-26.

Athleta were in control from the jumpball, going on to change ends 38-15 ahead. Athleta continued to dictate matters as Mtarfa were unable to stop the rot.

Standings: Hibs 10 (5-0), Depiro 9 (4-1), Luxol 9 (4-1), Loyola 8 (3-2), Athleta 7 (2-3), St Andrews (1-4) 6, Starlites 6 (1-4), Mtarfa 5 (0-5).

Top scorers: L. Bezzina (Hibs) 111; K. Agius (Depiro) 105; L. Sciberras (Athleta) 86; A. Borg (Depiro) 74; B. Zammit (Luxol) 66.

Next fixtures: League – Friday, 4.15 p.m. Athleta vs St Andrews, 7.45 p.m. Mtarfa vs Depiro. Saturday, 3.45 p.m. Starlites vs Loyola. Sunday, 2 p.m. Luxol vs Hibs.