Nelson Toyota routs Northport en route to WKMBL Championship
By The Nelson Daily Sports
Mike Vance once again topped the 20-point mark to lead Nelson Toyota to convining 75-38 victory over Northport, Wash., in the final of the West Kootenay Men’s Basketball League Monday at Selkirk College in Castlegar.
Vance paced the Nelson-based squad to the title with a game-high 35 points as seven of eight Toyota players scored in the game.
Nelson Toyota, which never trailed in the game, used an uptempo attack to build a 40-18 lead at halftime.
Nelson Toyota defeated Kootenay Lake Electric and city rival Empire Coffee to advance to the final.
In the Consolation Final, Chris Kalesnikoff scored 25 points to lead Empire Coffee to a 74-65 victory over Steamshovel of Rossland.
Empire Coffee led 38-33 at half time.
Florian Joseph added 18 points for Empire while Anthony Labar and Blaine Benner had 25 and 11 points, respectively for the Steamshovel.
This is the first season for the WKMBL, which had teams in Northport, Rossland, Trail, Nelson and Castlegar.
The league consists of two four-team divisions — North and South.
Empire Coffee won the North regular season with an 8-1 record while Mota took the South Division with a 6-4 mark.
League organizers want to give a shout out to new sponsors from Nelson, Kootenay Lake Electric, Nelson Toyota, Empire Coffee, as well as Selkirk College in Castlegar for providing gym time.
