On Friday, May 15, in Game 4 of the Optibet Latvian Basketball League finals, Valmiera Glass VIA defeated BK Ventspils on the road 92:89 (24:22, 44:50, 66:61), winning the best-of-five series 3–2 and securing the Latvian championship title. Anivaniva Teits-Jones (“Valmiera Glass VIA”) was named the Finals MVP. On Thursday, bronze medals were won by Rīgas Zeļļi/Sefinance.
The fourth game delivered a thrilling contest in which the lead changed hands 29 times. Early in the fourth quarter, Ventspils built their largest advantage of the game (78:68 in the 33rd minute), but the visitors erased the deficit in less than two minutes. As regulation time drew to a close, scoring slowed down, yet Valmiera maintained a slim lead throughout the final stretch.
For “Valmiera Glass VIA”, Andrew Packer scored 20 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Anivaniva Teits-Jones and Verners Kohs each added 19 points, while Dominiks Stenionis recorded a triple-double with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Omar Pajic contributed 12 points, while Kristofers Karlsons added six.
For BK “Ventspils”, Cameron Shelton scored 24 points, Aaron Cash added 16, while Ronalds Zaķis finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds. Amands Urkis also scored 14 points, Nikolajs Atanasovs had 11, and Renārs Birkāns added eight.
Valmiera captain Artis Ate celebrated his fifth Latvian Basketball League championship title, while Verners Kohs claimed his fourth and Mārcis Vītols his second. All of their previous titles came with VEF Rīga.
The all-time record holder with 11 Latvian league titles is Kristaps Purnis, followed by Sandis Valters with nine and Mārtiņš Skirmants with seven.
Kaspars Vecvagars became the 13th coach to lead a team to the Latvian championship title. The most successful coaches in league history are Jānis Gailītis with seven titles, Kārlis Muižnieks with six, and Armands Krauliņš with five.
Optibet LBL 2025/2026 season award winners:
- Coach of the Year – Kaspars Vecvagars (“Valmiera Glass VIA”)
- Most Improved Player – Rolands Šulcs (“Rīgas Zeļļi”/Sefinance)
- Rising Star – Reds Martinsons (BK “Liepāja”)
- Marketing Award – “Valmiera Glass VIA”
- Sixth Player Award – “Valmiera Glass VIA”
- Manager of the Year – Roberts Zeile (“Valmiera Glass VIA”)
- Referee of the Year – Ritvars Helmšteins
All-Star Five:
Dominiks Stenionis (“Valmiera Glass VIA”), Cameron Shelton and Ronalds Zaķis (both BK “Ventspils”), as well as Halil Shabazz and Frankie Fidler (both “Rīgas Zeļļi”/Sefinance).
Source: https://lbl.basket.lv/optibet-lbl/
