Best Baltic Basketball League Finals — Santa Ozola: 12 Points, 9 Rebounds, 3 Assists
Best Baltic Basketball League Finals showcased the depth and future of Latvian basketball as the final games were held in Riga at the prestigious Arena Riga, where Latvia’s national teams play their home games.
The battles at the U18 Women’s European Championship had barely come to an end when the final games of the Best Baltic Basketball League began. The games were extremely demanding, and, as expected, the final brought together Ridzene and Riga Basketball Center.
In yesterday’s game, Santa Ozola stood out for Riga Basketball Center, while Arta Ulle was one of the key performers for Ridzene.
Today, Ridzene completely refreshed its lineup, demonstrating the remarkable depth of its roster. Riga Basketball Center, meanwhile, started the game with essentially the same starting five, with its main players playing approximately 25–30 minutes.
Once again, Santa Ozola was one of the standout players, finishing with 12 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists. Keita Jakobsona also contributed 12 points and 5 rebounds.
For BS Riga/Centrs 2, Monta Culkstena stood out with 12 points and 5 rebounds.
Riga Basketball Center played almost exclusively with its starting five, and by the later stages it was clear that the players were running out of energy. At times, it became a very low-scoring game, as both teams appeared to have completely exhausted their physical resources.
However, this also created an excellent opportunity to see many young players in action.
Both teams showed an impressive depth of young talent, giving us the chance to watch players from different age groups and different stages of development. The overall picture was extremely encouraging and shows that Latvian basketball has a very bright future.
After the Latvian U16 boys won the European Championship, the Latvian U18 girls are currently competing at the European Championship, and today we also had an opportunity to see the depth of the U19 and U17 programs.
There are many very promising young players in these groups, and several of them have the potential for a very successful future in basketball.