Depiro 67

St. James Hospital 43

(22-9)(14-11)(17-10)(14-13)

Depiro, as expected, were the first team to advance to the final, where this season a new team will etch its name, after eight years of dominance by Hibs. Depiro made sure of a safe passage, dominating for long periods, and never allowing St. James to entertain hopes of an upset. Interesting is the fact that out of our wins over the Saints this season, Depiro beat their opponents in three different semi finals.

Depiro took no chances, as they started with a Sarah Pace trey, and continued for a 15-1 run, with Joselle Cardona points, and ending with another Pace trey and a Charlotte Riolo similar effort. St. James settled down midway through the session, to post a 6-1 run, but Depiro had a decent ending to the quarter, and three hoops gave them a better lead, going into double figures.

After the break, for the third time, Depiro started with a trey, a third for Sarah pace. This time St. James had a quicker reply, with a 7-2 run. mainly through Demise Hollier. Then it was rachel Camilleri for Depiro, using her speed to grab points, and Depiro’s lead escalated to a safe score. after three sessions they were leading 53-30.

In the final quarter Depiro’s defence was slacker, as the minutes wore on. After an initial three basket spread, Depiro became more complacent, and St. James sank treys by Hollier, barbara and Annabel Busuttil. The score was not affected, as Depiro had enough of a lead to see them through to the final.

Depiro: 18 Rachel Camilleri, 15 Sarah Pace, 15 Joselle Cardona

St. James: 12 Denise Hollier, 9 Sammy Jo Barbara

Referees: Jean Paul Sammut, Emanuel Mangani