The Vestri men's basketball team, commonly known as Vestri, is a basketball team based in ÃÂsafjörður, Iceland. The club was founded in 1965 as Körfuknattleiksfélag ÃÂsafjarðar and held that name until it merged with newly founded ÃÂþróttafélagið Vestri multi-sport club in 2016 and became its basketball department.
The club was founded in 1965 as Körfuknattleiksfélag ÃÂsafjarðar (KFÃÂ). In 1967 it reached the final of the Icelandic Cup where it lost to KR.
In March 1983, KFàfinished first in its group in 2. deild karla and played Laugdælir, Breiðablik and ÃÂþróttafélag Menntaskólans á Egilsstöðum (ÃÂME) in they playoffs for the 2. deild championship and promotion to 1. deild karla. According to the rules at the time, each team would play the other three once and the team with the best winâÂÂloss record would be crowned champions. KFàlost its first game to Breiðablik, 79âÂÂ76, despite 29 points from Guðjón Már ÃÂorsteinsson and 21 points from Jón Oddsson. In the second game, against Laugdælir, KFàscored the last 4 points of the game, winning 79âÂÂ76, with Kristinn Kristjánsson scoring 23 points, Jón Oddsson 17 points and Guðjón Már ÃÂorsteinsson 16 points. In the final game, KFàdefeated ÃÂME 91âÂÂ70. Both Breiðablik and Laugdælir also won two out of three games, tied with KFÃÂ. As the rules did not count for any tie-breakers, the three teams were slated to meet again to decide the winner. During the second try, KFàlost to Breiðablik in the first game, 78âÂÂ77, but won Laugdælir in the second game 79âÂÂ76. Laugdælir however won Breiðablik leaving the teams again tied, thus meaning that a third playoff would be held to decide the winner. During the third playoff, KFàwon Breiðablik but lost to Laugdælir. As Breiðablik won Laugdælir the teams were once again tied. Prior to the fourth playoffs, the Icelandic Basketball Federation decided that if the teams would once again finish tied, the team with the best scoring record would finish first. The fourth playoff was held from 30 April to 2 May and there Laugdælir won both KFàand Breiðablik convincingly and were crowned 2. deild karla champions.
In 1994, the team won the 2. deild karla playoffs, which was held jointly in ÃÂsafjörður and BolungarvÃÂk, after defeating ÃÂór ÃÂorlákshöfn 75âÂÂ48, and was promoted to 1. deild karla. In 1996, it gained promotion to the top-tier ÃÂrvalsdeild karla for the first time.
On 17 October 1999, KFàwon SkallagrÃÂmur, 129âÂÂ132, in a game that went into four overtimes. It was the longest ÃÂrvalsdeild karla game ever played in Iceland. Clifton Bush set a then record by playing 59 minutes in the game. It has since been broken by Hörður Axel Vilhjálmsson.
In 2016, KFàmerged into ÃÂþróttafélagið Vestri and became its basketball sub-division.
On 16 December 2018, while playing in the second-tier 1. deild karla, it knocked out top-tier Haukar in the Final 16 of the Icelandic Cup. It was the only team outside the top-tier ÃÂrvalsdeild to appear in the Final 8 of the cup.
In June 2021, Vestri defeated Hamar in the 1. deild promotion finals and achieved promotion to the ÃÂrvalsdeild.
Men's head coaches:
<small>Notes<br> <sup>1</sup>With two games left, the team had already secured the 3rd seed in the promotion playoffs when the rest of the season and playoffs was canceled.</small>
ÃÂrvalsdeild Men's Domestic All-First Team
ÃÂrvalsdeild Men's Young Player of the Year
ÃÂrvalsdeild Men's Foreign Player of the Year
Vestri has a men's reserve team that plays in the amateur level Icelandic 4th-tier 3. deild karla, called Vestri-b and nicknamed Flaggskipið (English: The Flagship). In 2018 it was the runner-up to the 3. deild championship.