The 2019 Independence Cup had two firsts in its competition history: the first foreign club, La Salle from Rome, and the first BOV Amateur League club, Mellieha SC Libertas Spalding, entered the preseason tournament.
La Salle, who earned a promotion Italy’s Division C league after a championship season last year, struggled in their first bout with eventual tournament winner Gzira Athleta but later found their footing in the last two games. It took a buzzer beater from Hibernians to put away the Italian side 53-50. La Salle defeated Luxol 63-62 in the final group play bout but failed to enter the semifinals because of point differential.
But it was the “local visitors” who made some noise at the tournament. Mellieha came into the Independence Cup with the simple objective of building team chemistry to prepare for a competitive Amateur League season, according to head coach Ian Terribile. However, they ended up turning heads this year during the preseason tournament by earning a spot in the semifinals. They battled it out with Depiro in a 63-54 loss in the tournament’s opening match but later defeated Starlites on day three of the tournament to get one step closer to the finals.
Mellieha head coach Ian Terribile said this after the tournament: “It was amazing to get to the semis and I believe we were a surprise to all in the basketball community.” The young squad ran into the dominant Gzira Athleta on Saturday and fell short 52-72. Despite that result, Terribile saw the positives moving forward in the season. “We realize that we are on the right track to have a good season, although there are many more things to learn.”
Mellieha SC Libertas Spalding is only three-years old as a club. Recognising the lack of opportunities for youngsters to learn and participate in the game of basketball in regions north of Mosta, the club, formerly known as Victoria Libertas Spalding, joined forces with Mellieha Sports Club in recent months to begin a new club basketball community in the north of Malta.
“Part of the evolution of our club was to join a village where we can start teaching basketball to kids and to start our own nursery,” Terribile said. “We are having great results already and we hope to keep it going.”
Terribile grew up in “a basketball family” with his young career starting in Mosta. He later joined Hamrun at the age of 15 and was named player of the year in the U-16 league after a league championship season. His career bounced from there to Siggiewi to later Mellieha, winning MBA Shields and being named 3-pointer shooter of the year in 2007 along the way. As a youth player he was captain of the Malta U-16 team and played with the U-18s national squad.
Now, Ian wants to pass on his basketball experience and knowledge to the ranks of young players in Mellieha and the north of Malta.
“I will be using my experience to coach the team I use to play with,” said Terribile. “My players are giving me great results and we hope we can do big things together.”
