SHAWNEE, OK – The Potawatomi Fire are TBL Champions once again!
The Fire clinched their third consecutive title on Monday night, beating the Capital Seahawks 105-91. The Fire are now TBL’s only three-time champ and have won all three titles in back-to-back fashion.
“This was an incredible team,” said Fire head coach, and now three-time TBL Coach of the Year, Mark Dannhoff. “We talked at the beginning of the year about sacrifice and how we would all have to sacrifice important things if we were going to win. All of these guys were willing to do that and all of these guys were willing to put personal accolades aside for the success of this team. It was a pleasure to coach these men every day and I’m so glad we get to celebrate another championship.”
Ricardo Artis II led the Fire with 33 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal. That effort, plus his other efforts throughout the postseason, earned him the TBL Playoff MVP award.
“I’m so happy for Ricky,” said Dannhoff. “He was shocked that he won that award but it was incredibly deserved. People see the entertainer he is during games but they don’t see the hard work he puts in during practice and in the offseason. You know, we didn’t know if he’d be able to play night after getting injured in Game 1 but he worked hard to get his body right and gutted it out today to help us win.”
TBL’s 6th Man of the Year, Ke’Tarrious Bouchum, finished with 22 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 blocks off the bench while Jay Hedgeman had 13 points, 8 boards, 3 assists, and 4 steals off the bench. Chuck Guy flirted with a triple-double Monday night finishing with 15 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 steals, and a block. Deshawn Munson also finished in double-figures with 10 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals.
A full box score is available here.
Even before the Fire raised the Lillie, they were greeted with several awards. K.T. Bouchum was previously announced as TBL’s 6th Man of the Year and earlier on Monday head coach Mark Dannhoff was named the TBL Coach of the Year for the third straight season. Chuck Guy also cemented his legacy as the best player in TBL history as he won his second consecutive MVP award. On top of those individual awards, including Artis’s Playoff MVP award, the Potawatomi Fire Girls Dance Team earned the TBL Dance Team of the Year award for the second time. The Fire Girls previously won the award in 2022.
With the win, the Fire finished off their 3-peat with 27-1 record overall, including a perfect 8-0 record in the playoffs.
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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 Best Dance Team in 2022 and 2025 and the Central Conference Best Dance Team in 2023 and 2024.