Latvia U18 beats Poland in Baltic Cup, U16 cadets lose in overtime in Turkey
Latvia's U18 basketball team defeated Poland 75-64 in the Baltic Cup in Kaunas on Saturday, while the U16 cadets lost 83-90 in overtime to Greece in a friendly tournament in Istanbul.
The Latvian U16 basketball team, preparing for the European U16 Championship, played their third friendly tournament game in Istanbul on Saturday, losing 83-90 to Greece after overtime. Kristians Martinsons led Latvia with 25 points, Gustavs Ķirsons added 11, and Gustavs Vilcāns recorded 10 points, seven assists, and six rebounds. Prospective team leader Bendžamins Jānis Beruē will join the squad next week.
In previous tournament games, Latvia lost 58-85 to Turkey and 74-82 to Germany. Head coach Edijs Šlesers noted that the preparation process is almost halfway done and the tournament helped identify the team's strengths and weaknesses. "The goal was to test all 15 players under game conditions, also in situations where they cannot hide behind leaders and must take initiative. It can be said that in no game did we have an optimal lineup. For now, we can only speak conditionally about such a lineup, as it is still being formed during the preparation cycle," Šlesers said.
Meanwhile, the Latvian U18 men's basketball team defeated Poland 75-64 on Saturday in the Baltic Cup in Kaunas. Ralfs Aleksandrovs and Jēkabs Graudiņš each scored 13 points, Raivo Kudrjavcevs added 10, and Markuss Tēbelis contributed nine. Poland's Francišeks Borucinskis-Hriciks scored 19 points. Latvia will close the tournament on Sunday against Lithuania.
Latvia lost 66-73 to Estonia in the first Baltic Cup game. In an earlier friendly cycle in Riga, the U18 team lost to Israel (65-73) and Turkey (71-78) but beat Georgia (82-67). Last week in a tournament in Spain, Latvia defeated Lithuania 73-60, lost to Serbia 58-65, and lost to Spain 68-69.
