SHAWNEE, OK – It was a historic night inside FireLake Arena as the Potawatomi Fire took Game 1 of the Midwest Conference Finals.
The Fire tied a team record for most points in a game (160) and recorded their second largest margin of victory (70 points) in their 160-90 rout of the Logansport Iron Horses. The Fire also led this game wire-to-wire, making Thursday’s win the fifth time this season that the Fire never trailed.
“I knew we were ready to play by the way we practiced this week,” said Fire head coach Mark Dannhoff. “These guys were focused all week and prepared really well. We beat a really good Logansport team tonight. We have said all season long we want to be playing our best basketball in the playoffs and I think we are doing that right now.”
The Fire led from the opening tip, racing out to a 20-10 lead at the first media timeout. The Fire extended the lead further to 35-17 at the end of the first quarter. From there, the Fire continued to keep their foot on the gas racing out to a 78-33 lead at half time. In the second half it was much of the same as the Fire cruised to the Game 1 victory.
Overall, eight players finished with at least 11 points and all 12 players scored for the Fire.
“This was a true team win,” said Dannhoff. “Everyone played and everyone contributed tonight. There were moments in this game where everyone of our guys made positive plays and positive impacts. We need to continue doing that through the postseason.”
Kam Williams led the Fire with 32 points off the bench. Deshawn Munson finished with 20 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and a steal. Ke’Tarrious Bouchum finished with 18 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists. Chuck Guy scored 16 points to go along with 9 assists, 7 rebounds, and 5 steals. Paul Harrison had his most productive game of the postseason with 15 points and 6 rebounds. Jachai Simmons finished with 13 points and 3 rebounds. Jay Hedgeman was the only Fire player to record a double-double as he finished with 12 points and 15 rebounds. Finally, Ricardo Artis II scored 11 points and grabbed 2 rebounds.
A full box score is available here.
“This was a good win, but this is just one step,” said Dannhoff. “We can enjoy this step tonight but we have to get back to work tomorrow because Logansport will make adjustments and I’m sure they’ll play much better on Saturday.”
With the win, the Fire take a 1-0 series lead over the Iron Horses in the Midwest Conference Finals. The win also marked the 48th straight win inside FireLake Arena.
Game 2 is set for Saturday at 7 PM inside FireLake Arena. Tickets are available now at potawatomifire.com/tickets. You can also 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.
—–
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.