Luxol began their season with a flourish as they easily disposed of St Andrews. Some of their players had good personal scores as did Josette Calleja of the Saints.

St Andrews had to withstand some heavy pressure as Luxol kept up a good rythym throughout nearly the whole encounter. The Saints had their moments in the second quarter.

Luxol had Louisa Serge back from a lengthy injury, Julianne Attard back in action once more and Emma Grech from the same St Andrews. The latter fielded practically last season’s outfit with the exception of newcomer Renette Magro.

Emma Moore started with a brace of hoops for Luxol with Nadia Cassar netting the saints’ only contribution for the opening period. The Violets then imposed their superiority for the rest of the session making up a strong 17-0 run beginning with a Bev Zammit triple.

In the second quarter came the next trey from Luxol’s Becky Naudi but when the Violets began to put in their bench players St Andrews were given more room and made up a good 16-0 run through Calleja and Madeleine De Martino.

Luxol changed their side once more and promptly put in a 9-0 run. There was a reaction from the Saints with the Violets making the last two hoops for a 39-16 halftime score.

Two more triples opened up the next session with Zammit’s second for the Violets and Calleja for the Saints. Luxol continued to put more distance between the two sides with Julianne Attard and Diana Muscat making their first points and Naudi’s second triple in a long 14-2 run.

St Andrews then netted a couple of hoops for a 25-56 score. The last session found Luxol intent on enhancing their score despite more changes on court. They managed another 13-0 run midway through the quarter with a Moore triple and towards the end of the match Zammit nailed her third trey to make up a satisfying score for the winners.

Luxol: 17 E. Moore 6 M. Sciortino 2 L. Serge 16 B. Naudi 1 K. Portelli 10 S. De Martino 5 J. Attard 6 P. Ellul 4 D. Muscat, L. Chetcuti E. Grech 11 B. Zammit

St Andrews: R. De Martino 2 N. Cassar 15 J. Calleja N. Scicluna 4 R. Magro  M. Caruana 4 J. Mangion T. Pace Decesare 3  I. Galea 4 M. De Martino

Referees: G. Barbara, C. Terribile

Guze Pinar Mtarfa 20

Loyola Alyssa Ashley 54

(10-6)(3-14)(2-17)(5-17)

Loyola were in difficulty soon after the start of the match but they recovered well to land their opening win against the new Mtarfa outfit. Neither of the two sides had players in personal double figure scores but all of Loyola’s court players managed to put their names on the score sheet.

The new Mtarfa side is made up of fringe players from the other clubs but not without experience. Loyola are basically last year’s outfit.

It was Loyola who had the better start with an opening 5-0 score but Mtarfa then produced a very bright patch which went on till the end of the period. They made up a 10-0 run starting with a Martha Abela trey and ending with a Nicola Said triple.

They ended the session in front with Loyola unable to reply adequately.

Mtarfa seemed to keep their adversaries under pressure at the start of the second quarter when they increased their lead. Loyola then finally managed to find their form and they began to dominate the proceedings.

This time it was Mtarfa who had no reply as Loyola turned in a solid 12-0 run with Adalia Bonanno in good shooting form.

At the interval Loyola were on a 20-13 advantage.

Loyola’s first two hoops after the break had Mtarfa with a basket in reply but they were the only points for them in this session.

Loyola denied their opponents till the end of the period whilst building up a long 15-0 run with Sammy Jo Barbara and Martha Gatt the protagonists. After three sessions Loyola were on a 37-15 lead.

Abela put in a second personal triple for Mtarfa at the start of the final session but Loyola had the match in their hands making up a three basket run.

Carina Gauci Meilak who finished up as her side’s best scorer netted Mtarfa’s last hoop but Loyola had enough in reserve ad they ended the game with a good 11-0 run with Fiona Schembri potting three hoops in a row.

Mtarfa: 6 M. Abela Y. Muscat D. Falzon 7 C. Gauci Meilak M. Mifsud M. Agius 3 N. Said R. Sammut 2 F. Borg 2 G. Santillo G. Mifsud C. Tanti

Loyola: 8 J. Doughty 2 P. Montanaro 4 E. Falzon 5 F. Schembri 8 M. Gatt  3 R. Spiteri 7 A. Bonanno 2 A. Sciberras 4 F. Camilleri 9 SJ Barbara  2 K. Gouder

Referees: B. Sly, E. Mangani

Starlites Sports Experience 31

Athleta 55

(4-15)(12-13)(10-11)(5-16)

Athleta produced dominating play in the first and last sessions to subdue their opponents and obtain a good win landing them with the three other winners of previous matches. Starlites were not inferior in the middle periods but Athleta’s opening advantage held them in good stead and a mid-session break in the final quarter established a very comfortable victory.

Starlites were a carbon copy of last season’s team and so were Athleta but they had the returning Lisa Pace after her long term injury and Dorien Jager was also in the line up after missing the last part of the season. There was also the addition of Kelly Busuttil from Depiro.

Athleta went into an early 7-0 lead mainly through Lonike Calleja. Starlites could only reply from a couple of hoops till the interval and Athleta upped their advantage to a double figure one with Francesca Farrugia obtaining her second hoop.

Starlites came up with a 7-2 run of their own at the start of the second session but Athleta recovered and kept their adversaries at bay with Farrugia and Azzopardi Duca baskets. It was still a low score at the interval but Athleta could rest on a favourable 28-16 lead.

Starlites’ contribution consisted of surges with Samanthe Tabone and Lyndsey Pirotta making up the firepower.

Athleta were in the action mainly midway through the period and this time it was Leanne Sciberras who was the main threat to her opponents’ net.

Athleta held a 39-26 advantage going into the last session. Starlites’ points fell drastically and they could only muster a single hoop early on. Athleta had Martina Azzopardi and Calleja making the first points as their side also made up an 8-0 run.

Starlites finished the game with some more points but their tally was way behind Athleta’s winning score.

Starlites: A. Farrugia, 2 C. Riolo, A. Grixti, 10 S. Tabone, L. Pisani, 2 C. Spiteri, 6 L. Pirotta, 2 N. Attard, 8 MC Cilia, 1 C. Scicluna, M. Cutajar

Athleta: R. Sciberras, L. Pace, D. Jager, 12 L. Calleja, 14 L. Sciberras, 6 M. Azzopardi Duca, 6 M. Azzopardi, G. Muscat, C. Galea, 8 F. Farrugia, K. Busuttil, 2 C. Mifsud.

Referees: J. Mangani, B. Sly