A mutual encounter in this phase for the units after an eight-year gap. The streak of up to three victories will start on Saturday in Ventspils.
The Kurzeme derby in the LBL playoffs is not a frequent occurrence.
The last time the teams crossed paths in this context was in the spring of 2016, when the series stretched over five matches, “Liepāja” (at that time “Liepāja/Triobet”) having a two-win lead and losing 2:3.
Also, the burden of bronze medals of the league hung on the shoulders of this series.
“Liepāja” has been able to play until the award battles for the second year in a row, while “Ventspils” has always reached the finals in the last five seasons.
This season, the Kurzeme derbies ended with mixed results.
In the first match in October, our team was superior in extra time with 102:96, with Krūmiņas taking the lead, but in January, “Liepāja” lost at home with 70:90. for the yellow ones making long shots with 40% accuracy.
The injured Krumiņš will not be able to help us in the series.
“Ventspils” plays in the front the lion the leader of the past two seasons, Birkāns, who was an important figure in winning bronze last year.
In the new team, he does not play the first violin as a player, mostly starting the matches as a reserve, however, despite this, he was the team’s top scorer in the combined league.
The former players of Ventspils also play an important role in the ranks of “Liepājas”.
Ćilps is a student of Ventspils basketball, he spent five seasons in the adult unit and announced himself on the big stage, including getting a chance to play in the Champions League.
Also, Schulcs spent two seasons in Ventspils right before joining our team.
In the semifinals, “Liepāja” lost to “VEF Rīga” with 0:3, while “Ventspils” sent the debutants of the tournament “Rīgas zeļlius” to the final with 1:3.
Bronze series schedule
| Time | Place |
| 11.05. at 2 p.m | Ventspils |
| 14.05. at 20.00 | Liepaja |
| 17.05. at 19.00 | Ventspils |
| 20.05. at 19.00 | Liepaja* |
| 23.05. at 19.00 | Ventspils* |
In the pages of history
One of the hottest Kurzeme derbies took place in the bronze series of the LBL in 2016, with the Liepaja team leading 2:1.
The fourth match went down in history with cosmic numbers and the background of the struggle for survival – the game in Liepāja lasted almost three hours, a total of 71 free throws were taken, 45 notes were recorded for “Liepāja”, 33 for “Ventspilij”, five players from Liepaja were disqualified for the norm of penalties, including as many as three getting to six notes, the incident in the sports community causing a conditional scandal about the work of the referees and signals circulating on the sidelines about the possible sponsors of the BC “Ventspils” at that time internal conflict about the future of the club if the team remained without medals.
In the end, “Liepāja” was defeated with 98:95, and then “Ventspils” won bronze in the home game.
