WILLIE VASSALLO

So Bupa have finally made it! The elusive clean sweep of honours in one season, previously only managed twice by the Hibs Medsea female team, is now also in the hands of Bupa, who had a titanic three game encounter with Compleet in the play off finals, before finally landing the league title, which completed the five prong star of the clean sweep. It was a full blooded game, with no quarter asked or given, which had the good crowd present on tenterhooks till the end, as Bupa rode out the last seconds, to give vent to their unbounded joy at writing the record books. It was a pity that Compleet had to come out empty handed, as they had a great ending to the season, but found the last stumbling block too high to surmount, as Bupa took the spoils.

After some studied play it was Compleet who struck first, with a brace of hoops. Bupa’s reply was an Alan Borg trey, and they went on to a 7-6 lead. Michael Naudi was Compleet’s kingpin, and he obliged with two more baskets, but Bupa were starting to combine better, and Matijevic’s threat resulted in a session-ending 10-2 run, aided by a Steve Schembri trey, as Bupa went in front after the opening quarter.

Bupa kept on their pressure in the second period, with a second Steve Schembri trey, but Compleet pulled back, as Adrian Micallef and Naudi put in three hoops. Bupa overrode the difficult spell, and came up with a 7-0 run of their own, as Matijevic was dominant in the zone, for a good 27-18 advantage. Compleet broke the run, but they didn’t make enough headway, although a last-second Omar Said hoop put the score at 29-21, always in Bupa’s favour, at the interval.

After the break Bupa’s insistence was still paying off, despite a couple of Compleet hoops. A 9-2 run enabled the Violets, with points by Marco Mercieca and Steve Schembri, to enjoy a strong 40-27 advantage. Compleet recovered well, to post a 9-2 run, and come back within reach. A Matijevic hoop at the close of play helped Bupa to a 44-36 lead after three sessions.

In the final quarter Bupa had control, and Compleet’s attempts to gain ground always found a reply. Bupa’s points had an answer from Etienne Bezzina’s trey, and some time later it was Said’s free shots who made it a closer 55-59 match. Compleet’s efforts to steal the ball resulted in a spate of free shots, some missed, but others put Bupa on a sounder footing. An Omar Said trey gave Compleet some hope, but Bupa exploited the open spaces in defence, and Dirk Schembri applied the finishing touch, as the Violets swung the ball around in the final seconds, to burst into a frenzy of joy at the final buzzer.

After the game the MBA president, Mag. Antonio Mizzi, presented the new champions with the league trophy, their eleventh in the record books, and completed their jig saw for the whole season.

Bupa: R. Dalli, 7 M. Mercieca, 6 R. Azzopardi, M. Micallef, 5 A. Borg, A. Bianchi, M. Bonnici, T. Paris, 12 D. Schembri, E. Caruana Montaldo, 25 M. Matijevic, 12 S. Schembri

Compleet: 23 M. Naudi, I. Buldakov, 2 M. Zammit, 4 E. Bezzina, J. Galea, T. Riolo, 15 O. Said, 4 A. Micallef, 9 K. Baldacchino, 4 S. Cassar, R. Mifsud

Referees: Bernard Vassallo, Gordon Barbara, Anthony Micallef