Kataja Basket Club (eng. Juniper) is a professional basketball club of sports club Kataja from Joensuu, Finland. The team plays in the Korisliiga, the highest tier of Finnish basketball. In 2015, Kataja won its first national championship, after it beat Bisons Loimaa 3–2 in the Finnish Finals.
History The basketball activity of the club started in 1955. In 1961, the team started playing in the Joensuu Sports Hall. The team started in provincial competitions, but quickly promoted to the national level in the 1960s. From 1976 till 1980, the team played continuously in the highest Finnish division. In the 2001–02 season, the team won its first trophy when it won the Finnish Cup. In 2015, the first championship of Kataja was realized after a 3–2 Finals series win against Bisons Loimaa. In the 2012–13 season, Kataja started participating in European competitions when it entered the EuroChallenge. The team immediately reached the quarterfinals of the competition, and has played in Europe every season since.
Achievements Korisliiga Champions (2): 2014–15, 2016–17 Finnish Cup Champions (4): 2002, 2011, 2012, 2023
Players Retired numbers Kataja Basket Club retired numbersNo.PlayerPositionTenure 9 Leon Huff C 1975–1978, 1979-1980, 1993-1994 11 Eero Oksava G 1963–1980 14 Petri Virtanen G 2005–2007, 2008-2016 15 Sami Lehtoranta C 2005–2014
Current roster
Notable players - Set a club record or won an individual award as a professional player. - Played at least one official international match for his senior national team at any time.
Season by season
SeasonTierLeagueFinnish Cup European competitions2010–11 1 Korisliiga2nd Champion2011–12 1 Korisliiga 2nd Champion2012–13 1 Korisliiga 3rd 3 EuroChallenge 6–82013–14 1 Korisliiga 2ndrowspan=7 3 EuroChallenge 2–42014–15 1 Korisliiga 1st 3 EuroChallenge 0–62015–16 1 Korisliiga 5th 3 FIBA Europe Cup 5–72016–17 1 Korisliiga 1st 3 Champions League 6–8 4 FIBA Europe Cup 0–22017–18 1Korisliiga 6th 3 Champions League 1–1–2 4 FIBA Europe Cup 4–82018–19 1 Korisliiga 5th 4 FIBA Europe Cup 8–82019–20 1 Korisliiga 7th 4 FIBA Europe Cup 3–52020–21 1 Korisliiga 7th2021–22 1 Korisliiga 4th2022–23 1 Korisliiga 3rd Champion2023–24 1 Korisliiga 4th 4 FIBA Europe Cup 2–62024–25 1 Korisliiga 4th2025-26 1 Korisliiga 2nd
References
External links Official site