St James Hospital Christmas Cup 2017 – Finals

The first edition of the St James Hospital Christmas Cup for under 14 was held this year with the final 4 event held last weekend.

In the boys’ event, Starlites emerged as the winners having to play three games on the final day as they played in the preliminary game against Siggiewi winning 54-22 and then overcame Depiro 76-21 in the semifinal.

Hibernians, who topped Group B in the group stages last week, reached the final after beating Gzira Athleta, runners up in Group A, 55-22.

The final between Starlites and Hibernians was a close affair until halftime when the two sides were tied at 26-26 but Starlites opened a slender lead in the third quarter and managed to extend it decisively in the last to win 52-39.

The girls event resulted in a contested final between the two group winners in the gorup stage klast week namely Depiro and Siggiewi after they also had the better of Gzira Athleta and Starlites respectively in the semifinals.

Depiro opened a 33-23 lead by half time in the final but Siggiewi managed to come well into the game in the last session, even to a minimal deficit, but Depiro managed to obtain the last decisive points to emerge winners.

The MBA president Paul Sultana presented the winning St James Hospital Christmas Cup trophy and medals to both winners, Starlites and Depiro, after their respective finals.

St James Hospital Christmas Cup 2017

Under 14 Boys

Preliminary Game

Starlites 54 – Siggiewi 22 (10-7, 20-5, 13-10, 11-5)

Starlites: Sean Aquilina 6, Jeremy Zammit 6, Luigi Aguilar 14, Isaac Azzopardi 6, Adam Azzopardi 4, Matthias Vassallo Pulis 7, Marco Farrugia 11, Daniel Vella..

Siggiewi: Gilbert Spiteri, Justin Caruana, Luca Borg 5, Miguel Scicluna 2, Miles Spooner, Jadon Ciappara, Miguel Deflavio 6, Lee Sammut, Damion Cutajar, Nelly Pace 9, Sheldon Agius, Zach Xerri.

Semi Finals

Hibernians 55 – Gzira Athleta 22 (16-7, 4-6, 21-6, 14-3)

Hibs: Neil Cassar 21, Isaac Mizzi, Andrew Scicluna, Louie Micallef, Francesco Gellel 4, Luke Attard, Alexander Zelalem 22, Gabriel Caruana, Gabriel Cassar 8

Gzira Athleta: Emrik Rodo, Davide Mazzara, Liam Abela 2, Andrej Bozanic 7, Jordan Ellul Dowling 3, Kyle Borg 4, Sascha Mangion 4, Jiarun Li 2.

Depiro 21 – Starlites 76 (4-21, 9-12, 2-24, 6-19)

Depiro: Julian Micallef, Luke Attard 5, Luke Busuttil, Luca Sammut 12,Thomas Muscat Baldacchino 2, Jaden Borg 2, Noah Sammut, Malcolm Grima.

Starlites: Isaac Azzopardi 16, Adam Azzopardi 13, Matthias Vassallo Pulis 5, Marco Farrugia 10, Sebastian Pace 18, Jordan Spiteri 6, John Cefai, Gaetano Francalanza 2

Final

Hibernians 39 – Starlites 52 (14-12, 12-14, 6-11, 7-15)

Hibs: Neil Cassar 14, Isaac Mizzi 2, Andrew Scicluna, Louie Micallef 2, Francesco Gellel, Luke Attard 2, Alexander Zelalem 15, Gabriel Caruana, Gabriel Cassar 4

Starlites: Sean Aquilina 9, Jeremy Zammit 9, Luigi Aguilar 20, Isaac Azzopardi, Adam Azzopardi 2, Matthias Vassallo Pulis 2, Marco Farrugia 9, Sebastian Pace, Daniel Vella 1

Christmas Cup Girls

Semi Finals

Siggiewi 36 – Starlites 30 (10-8, 6-4, 8-8, 12-10)

Siggiewi: Desmea Vella 10, Shanice Farrugia 7, Tiziana Magri 8, Desiree Camilleri 4, Kristyl Farrugia, Berta Bonello, Chanelle Farrugia, Kelsey Bugeja 7, Maria Agius.

Starlites: A. Saliba 6, V. Micallef, K. Mifsud 10, M. Fenech, M. Sciberras 2, S. Buhagiar 8, R. Micallef 4, K. Mifsud, A. Borg

Depiro 58 – Gzira Athleta 26 (17-6, 10-12, 19-4, 12-4)

Depiro: Julia Borg 25, Thea Mifsud 21, Cassidy Borg 2, Julienne Magri, Danika Galea 8, Lucia Catania, Gaby Attard 2, Amy Mallia

Gzira Athleta: K. Mazzara 4, I. Zarb 2, M. Bonello, M. Scerri, H. Grixti 2, C. Portelli 5, J. Caruana 7, S. Delia 1, T. Mifsud 5

Final

Siggiewi 43 – Depiro 47 (9-15, 14-18, 4-3, 16-11)

Siggiewi: Desmea Vella 1, Shanice Farrugia 31, Tiziana Magri 4, Desiree Camilleri 7, Kristyl Farrugia, Berta Bonello, Chanelle Farrugia, Kelsey Bugeja, Maria Agius.

Depiro: Julia Borg 26, Thea Mifsud 8, Cassidy Borg 2, Julienne Magri 3, Danika Galea 7, Lucia Catania, Gaby Attard, Amy Mallia 1.