Malta’s Kurt Cassar shooting from the free-throw line.

The first two national youth teams in action this summer produced encouraging and positive results in European Championship category tournaments.

The U-18 women squad, playing in Gibraltar, were the silver medal winners, only bowing down to strong winners Scotland in the five days of competition.

The girls, led by Sandro Farrugia and Moira Caruana, overcame the tough challenge of Andorra on the opening day as they emerged 57-51 winners.

After losing the match against Scotland 82-39, the Maltese team bounced back with a comfortable 60-34 victory over Gibraltar and then secured the runners-up spot with a hard-fought win over Wales, 51-39.

One can also mention the fact that Hannah Al-Tumi was chosen among the top five players of the tournament.

She had the best average in blocked shots (three) as well as nine rebounds per game.

In San Marino, the U-16 boys opened with two fine wins over Albania 58-48 and Andorra, the latter after overtime with Kurt Cassar potting 50 points in an 81-74 win.

The Maltese team closed off the group phase with an upset to eventual gold medal winners San Marino, 77-48.

In the semi-finals, the Malta team produced a spirited performance but lost to Kosovo 65-45.

The team, led by Gabriele Alesse and Duncan Fenech, played Wales in a play-off for third place. They improved after a slow start to win 55-44.

Cassar was also included in the team of the tournament after grabbing the limelight and finishing top scorer and best rebounder. He registered five double-doubles, including four 20-20s.

In the final, San Marino beat Kosovo 76-59 to claim their first ever U-16 European Championship Division C title for boys.