Three games characterised last weekend’s Women’s League programme. Starlites GIG and Hibernians continued to share the top position, albeit the Naxxar side have a lead in the direct encounters. Caffe Moak Luxol ascertained themselves of the third and final play-off spot after beating Depiro in the midweek game.

Luxol 72

Depiro             54

(13-22, 24-8, 18-4, 17-20)

Depiro set off on a good note and took an early lead with a series of hoops from Claire Ciantar and long-distance shots from Stephanie Demartino and Gabriella Mifsud.

This early Depiro margin was neutralised by Caffe Moak Luxol in the second quarter as despite further Depiro points from Demartino and Nicole Agius, the Violets overturned the score in their favour with Sharon Vella continuing to notch points, similar to the first quarter, and American Alexis Dillard making her strong presence felt more underneath the boards.

The 37-30 half time lead was then further extended when Luxol kept Depiro at bay in the third quarter allowing them to notch only four points in ten minutes.

With Dillard grabbing more hoops, assisted by Antoinette Borg, Luxol closed off the game when they opened a 55-34 lead with just a quarter to go till the final buzzer.

The game was over and done with and the last quarter witnessed balanced play at both ends with Depiro marginally reducing the deficit.

LUXOL: S. Pace 12, L. Caruana Montaldo, Nic. Vella 4, I. Baena 5, N. Vella, S. Vella 12, K. Portelli 3, A. Borg 7, P. Ellul, M. Caruana 3, A. Dillard 26.

DEPIRO: No. Agius, N. Agius 3, G. Mifsud 8, S. DeMartino 24, D. Said Hollier 2, M. Scicluna, N. Hili, C. Ciantar 17, A. Mifsud, E. Cassar.

Referees: Z. Dobrosavljevic, C. Xuereb.

Starlites Gig    70

Depiro             52

(17-8, 20-18, 20-11, 13-15)

A 13-0 run in the second quarter was the determining factor in this Starlites GIG’s win as they moved away from a marginal two-point lead to a hefty double-digit advantage by half-time. Then they managed to control the procedures in the second half to maintain the top position in the standings on direct encounter basis.

The start of the game had Starlites showing more offensive prowess amassing an early 11-2 lead with baskets from Josephine Grima.

Depiro staged a good comeback as Claire Ciantar’s close-range hoops and Stephanie Demartino and Gabriella Mifsud’s treys moved them to just a basket away from their opponents.

Here Starlites got their game- high 13-0 run with points from Michela Zammit Cordina and Giocelis Reynoso and move to a 37-26 half-time lead.

This margin was extended to 20 points by the end of the third quarter as Starlites registered two other small mini-runs, 8-2 and 10-2, and the game was now practically over.

Depiro did outscore their opponents in the last quarter but Starlites were keeping their cool and baskets from Patricia Arguello and Christina Curmi made sure that they maintained the lead.

STARLITES: M. Zammit Cordina 8, M. Riolo 2, S. Farrugia, S. Davies, M. Bonett 4, G. Reynoso 16, C. Curmi 8, J. Grima 18, P. Arguello 14, M. Cutajar, F. Fabok, A. Lupo.

DEPIRO: No. Agius, Ni. Agius 4, G, Mifsud 13, S. DeMartino 15, D. Said Hollier 2, M. Scicluna 2, C. Ciantar 16, A. Mifsud.

Referees: D. Torok, V. Nikolic.

Hibernians      64

Caffe Moak Luxol         60

(14-10, 20-10, 19-20, 11-20)

Hibernians were seemingly strolling to a comfortable win but Caffe Moak Luxol staged a remarkable late comeback and came even close to topple the Paolites in the final stages of the game.

After Luxol notched the game’s first points, Hibs replied with 11 points on the run.

But with both sides grabbing some long-distance shots, Samantha Brincat and Jasmine Abela for Hibs and Sarah Pace and Antoinette Borg for Luxol, the game was still close by the end of the first quarter with Hibs enjoying a slender 14-10 lead.

A 14-2 run in the second quarter helped Hibs to start taking control of the match and with Brincat amassing her third trey in the game, they moved to 34-20 advantage midway in the game.

This margin did not change in the third quarter which had Hibs setting off with an early 7-0 run.

But Luxol managed to reply back with triples from Ina Baena and Monique Caruana.

Things changed in the last quarter when Luxol started finding their mark and gradually saw their initial double-digit deficit getting smaller and smaller until just a simple basket separated the two sides with less than two minutes to the final buzzer.

Suddenly, a game that looked firmly in Hibs’ hands was all to play for.

Luxol were on a high and could have also taken the lead but it was Hibs who managed to score the last important points through Sophie Abela to grab this tight victory.

HIBS: S. Abela 11, E. Cassar 5, K. Calleja, S. Brincat 14, I. Agius, J. Abela 6, A. Simmons 14, N. Farrugia, H. Al Tumi 5, K. Caruana 2, L. Duncan 7.

LUXOL: S. Pace 12, Ni. Vella, I. Baena 3, No. Vella, S. Vella 17, K. Portelli, A. Borg 3, L. Caruana Montaldo, M. Caruana 12, C. Mifsud 1, A. Dillard 12.

Referees: T. Mantere, Z. Dobrosavljevic, V. Nikolic.

Standings: Starlites GIG (9-2) 20; Hibernians (9-2) 20; Caffe Moak Luxol (4-7) 15; Depiro (0-11) 11.