Gżira Athleta 73
Starlites 62

(14-14, 20-20, 16-19, 23-9)

The U-19 men’s final was decided in the last quarter.

Starlites were led by Alec Felice Pace who tried his best and potted 34 points even if closely-marked throughout the game.

On the other hand, Athleta, who had beaten Starlites in the regular season, had a wider spread of players, most of whom also featured prominently in Division Two.

Athleta opened a small lead as the third quarter got underway but Starlites came back strongly and long distance shots from Mirco Azzopardi and Quinton Bugeja put them 53-50 ahead.

Both teams remained tied for the first half of the last quarter but then Athleta got some quick hoops from Nathan Xuereb and Julian Wait to which Starlites could not reply.

Starlites 49
Depiro 32

(12-8, 8-8, 18-5, 11-11)

A strong third quarter performance helped the U-19 Starlites girls to claim the championship honours.

Depiro did try their best but Starlites were the better side on the day and were merited winners.

The first half, albeit a low-scoring affair, was balanced even though Starlites held most of the upperhand. Depiro enjoyed the first lead with Nicole Agius and Laura Vella scoring the baskets.

Starlites, who had beaten the same opponents twice in the regular season, replied with an eight-point run and consecutive points from Kirsty Galea to go in front.

In the second quarter, Mante Balzaraviciute tried hard to inspire Depiro and the Blues did stay very close as it was only two late hoops from Jaelle Micallef which helped Starlites to a slender 20-16 half-time lead.

Starlites, however, dominated the play when action resumed after the interval as they opened a double-digit lead whilst keeping their opponents to just five points in the quarter.

With a 38-21 advantage, Starlites could control the tempo in the final quarter as hoops from Anthea Micallef and Kim Pirotta ascertained their victory.

At the end of both matches, MBA president Paul Sultana presented the trophies to the winners.

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