SHAWNEE, OK – The Potawatomi Fire moved one step closer to a third consecutive TBL championship Saturday night beating the Capital Seahawks 113-102 in Game 1 of the 2025 TBL Finals.
“Capital is a really good team and they gave us a lot tonight,” said Fire head coach Mark Dannhoff. “I thought our guys answered everything they threw at us and showed what are capable of doing. I know we will need that same focus and intensity on Monday night because Capital is going to come ready to play.”
The Fire and Capital traded blows in the first quarter. After a couple of quick baskets by the Fire early in the game, Capital built an eight-point lead in the first quarter, as they made nine of their first 10 shots from the field. However, the Fire responded and ended up leading by five (32-27) after the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Capital was able to tie the game at 36 but a 9-2 run by the Fire put the two-time defending champs up for good. Capital would pull the game back within one to 47-46 but the Fire then responded with a 10-2 run and ultimately stretched their lead to 12 (65-53) going into halftime.
In the second half, the Fire continued to assert their dominance and built as much as an 18-point lead before Capital cut the lead back to 11 in the closing minutes.
Six of the seven Fire players who saw the floor finished in double-figures and three players finished with double-doubles.
A full box score is available here.
Paul Harrison led the Fire with 22 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 blocks. Ke’Tarrious “K.T.” Bouchum, who was named TBL’s 6th Man of the Year earlier in the day on Saturday, finished with 21 points off the bench. Jachai Simmons hit a team-high four three-pointers and scored 19 points while grabbing 3 rebounds. Deshawn Munson scored 18 points for the Fire. He also grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out 6 assists for his eighth double-double of the season. Jay Hedgeman recorded his second double-double of the year, finishing with 12 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. Finally, Chuck Guy recorded his 12th double-double fo the year as he finished with 14 points, 14 assists, 6 rebounds, and 2 steals.
“It was a team effort tonight,” said Dannhoff. “All of the guys who got in the game gave us good minutes and contributed to our success. I thought they all played well and did a lot of good things.”
Guy also made history on Saturday night. The reigning TBL MVP recorded his 3,000th career point in TBL on a free throw in the second quarter. Guy, who was the first player in TBL history to reach 2,000 career points, now becomes the first player to reach 3,000 points in TBL.
“I’m so happy for Chuck to get that milestone,” said Dannhoff. “He’s the hardest worker on this team and it shows every time he steps on the court. We’ve been together so long that we know what each other will say and I can truly said it’s an honor to get to coach him every day.”
With the win, the Fire now lead the TBL Finals 1-0. The Fire can close out the series with a win in Game 2 on Monday night.
Game 2 will tipoff at 7 PM on Monday, June 23rd. Tickets for Game 2 are available now at potawatomifire.com/tickets. You can also purchase tickets by calling the FireLake Arena box office at (405) 273-1637.
You can watch a live stream of the game at tbltv.tv or listen live on KGFF Radio (100.9 FM/1450 AM). To stay up to date with the Fire, follow the Fire on Twitter/X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
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ABOUT THE POTAWATOMI FIRE
The Potawatomi Fire are the first professional basketball team owned by a Native American tribe (Citizen Potawatomi Nation) in Oklahoma. The Fire compete in the Central Conference of The Basketball League (TBL), a men’s professional basketball league, with roughly 40 teams across the U.S. and Canada. The Fire play their home games at FireLake Arena in Shawnee, Oklahoma.
Through their first three years, the Fire have established themselves as the premier franchise in TBL. Along with winning the TBL championship in 2023 and 2024, the Fire organization was named the 2022 winner of the Jim Koch Award as TBL’s Best Ran Business. The dance team of the Fire, the Fire Girls, were named TBL’s 2022 Best Dance Team and Central Conference Best Dance Team in 2023 and 2024.