Another century win over Mellieha

BOV League Play Offs ‑ Men 1 Div. ‑ Final 1

Mellieha Libertas 90 Starlites Fijo 104 (24‑31, 24‑31, 23‑27, 19‑15)

Mellieha were beaten comfort‐ ably, a week before, in the K.O. final, and this first Play Off final followed suit. Mellieha were at par till halfway through the opening session, but then Star‐ lites forged forward, and a trio of players helped in their downfall. The two Americans, Zekiah Owens and Darius George, con‐ tinually penetrated the zone, and Matthew Attard was lethal in his long range shooting. Halfway through the encounter Starlites enjoyed a steady, double digit lead, on a 62‐48 score, and when that advantage escalated mid‐ way through the third session it was all over. Mellieha's Colom‐ bian, Sebastian Valencia, was the game's top scorer, and Nenad Bukva put in a satisfying per‐ formance, even if continually heckled by the Starlites' support‐ ers. Robert Bonnici, too, went into double figure scoring, but these heroics were not enough to stop the reigning champions, who have already got the better of Mellieha in three previous fi‐ nals, and look odds on to capture their fourth seasonal honour. They surprisingly missed out in the Louis Borg Cup, when they could have recovered from a first defeat, but were again beaten by Luxol, who, in turn, were on the losing end against Mellieha, in the final.

The second Play Off encounter is on, for next Thursday.

Mellieha: S. Zammit , M. Falzon 1, D. Bugeja 9, R. Bonnici 16, V. Jandric 3, I. Bonett 10, N. Bukva 20, N. Jovanovic , M. Formosa , O. Said , S. Valencia 31

Starlites: A. Felice Pace 13, Z. Owens 23, M. Attard 22, J. Bates 7, I. Felice Pace 2, M. Fabri , L. Riolo , M. Scerri 12, R. Carabott , K. Xuereb 1, N. Sultana , D. George 24

Referees: D. Torok, Z. Do‐ brosavljevic, F. Ciurariu

Mapfre MSV Life League Play Offs ‑ Women ‑ Final 1

Starlites hold on, to draw first blood

Caffe Moak Luxol 58 Starlites Fijo 60 (19‑14, 14‑19, 12‑14, 13‑13)

It was on the cards to be a tight encounter, and so it was. Starlites recovered from a difficult start, with a rampant Luxol at the open‐ ing, but then things evened out. Starlites gradually made up the leeway, and were ahead for the first time, late in the second ses‐ sion, but were overtaken by Luxol, for a tied 33‐33 halftime score. When the Starlites' mentor, Charles Bonnici, was ousted out of the match, on two foolish major fouls, Luxol became firm favourites, but a while later they lost skipper, Mandi Mercieca, also on a petulant infringement, for a fifth personal foul. Luxol became disjointed, with Starlites' Steffi DeMartino, having the time of her life, sinking in all her six triples. She was ably helped by Mikela Riolo, with the onerous task of nullifying Luxol's Mexican inter‐ national, Gladiana Avila, who be‐ came a marked woman for the rest of the match. Josephine Diaby put in her share for Luxol, but her side's possibilities became more limited, with Starlites growing in stature.

The game seesawed till the end, when Lisa Fenech Pace's trey put Luxol ahead, only for DeMartino to rattle in her sixth trey. A hoop behind, Luxol had two occasions to save the game, but both were missed, and Starlites now have their noses in front.

Next Thursday will be game two for the two sides.

Luxol: C. Sollami , M. Mercieca , L. Fenech Pace 6, H. Galea , G. Avila 25, K. Portelli , S. Fenech Pace 6, J. Diaby 17, S. Sciberras 2, S. Farrugia , M. Marmara , A. Fenech Pace 2

Starlites: M. Zammit Cordina 2, M. Riolo 12, A. Saliba , M. Sciber‐ ras , M. Bonett 4, S. DeMartino 22, M. Fenech , A. Simmons10 , C. Cilia , K. Mifsud , S. Davies , C. Curmi 10

Referees: Z. Dobrosavljevic, N. Azzopardi, B. Mrkojevic