Mellieha’s first final among the elite was a nightmare. Bupa took the wind out of their sails in the second quarter, and some cool, professional play gave Mellieha a lesson to remember.

Maybe the first session gave Mellieha some hope, but this was quickly dashed , as Bupa became masters of the court, and trampled all over their opponents. The second final is now a formality, and both teams can plan according to their exigencies.

Mellieha had Ben Aquilina missing, and Trevor Degiorgio, making his return, was injured in training. Bupa had Reuben Dalli abroad, but Alex Bianchi returned, after missing three games.

Jide Jetson put in Mellieha’s first hoop, but Bupa had Dirk Schembri and Matijevic to make an 8-0 run. Chris Sammut sank a trey for Mellieha, and the Northerners went further, with a 7-2 run, to tie at 12-12. Then it was Bupa with a 9-2 run, and a Robert Azzopardi trey. Mellieha pulled a trey back, as Michael Pisani netted a few seconds from the end of the quarter.

In the second session Mellieha went closer still, at 19-21, but then the roof fell in, and Azzopardi turned on the style for Bupa. A ponderous 27-0 run, with Azzopardi’s four treys, made the match a lopsided one. Mellieha finally stopped the slide, but they were still falling further in arrears.

There were treys by Mellieha’s Eman Xuereb and Bupa’s Steve Schembri, and at the interval Bupa already held a winning 57-26 advantage.

After the break Chris Sammut made his second trey for Mellieha, but Bupa didn’t give signs of letting up, and an 11-4 run found mellieha sliding further behind. Michael Pisani also sank his second trey, but Bupa were hungry for more. They put in another 12-2 run, as Dirk Schembri enhanced his personal score. After three sessions Mellieha were facing a 40-80 adverse score.

In the final quarter Bupa were well in line for the century. They started off with a 9-2 run, and Mellieha replied with a Julian Naudi trey. The scoring died down a little midway through the session, as the two teams only eked out some more points.

Late in the quarter Bupa picked up again, and Robert Azzopardi crowned a great shooting performance with his last two treys. One consolation for Mellieha must be that the second final will surely not be worse than the first one.

Mellieha: 5 J. Naudi, 12 J. Jetson, 1 S. Aquilina, 3 E. Xuereb, J. Muscat, M. Cauchi, 2 J. Aquilina, 8 M. Pisani, 14 C. Sammut, 3 S. Sammut, 5 R. Loporto

Bupa: A. Micallef Trigona, 8 M. Mercieca, 31 R. Azzopardi, M. Micallef, 6 A. Borg, A. Bianchi, M. Bonnici, T. Paris, 27 D. Schembri, E. Caruana Montaldo, 20 M. Matijevic, 11 S. Schembri

Referees: Gordon Barbara, Stephen Micallef