SHAWNEE, OK – The Potawatomi Fire continued their perfect start to the season as they beat the Wichita SkyKings 148-125 on a historic night at FireLake Arena.
Fire point guard Chuck Guy set a new team record with 20 assists on the night. Along with the 20 assists, he also scored 24 points and grabbed four rebounds. Ricardo Artis II had his best game of the young season with 30 points and 14 rebounds off the bench. While Guy and Artis II had huge games for the Fire, K.D. Moore actually led the team in scoring with 33 points. Moore also grabbed 7 rebounds.
“Chuck was great again. He does so much for us but tonight we really needed his leadership,” said Fire head coach Mark Dannhoff. “Chuck is so good about getting the guys focused and calmed and we needed that, especially during that first half. K.D. had a really good game and I was a little surprised when I looked up and saw he had 30. He sparks us defensively and his leadership is big for us as well. Ricky really came up big when we went small. He was able to guards their bigs and he was very active on the glass.”
Three other Fire players finished in double figures. Ruston Hayward finished with 20 points, 3 rebounds, and a pair of steals. Jachai Simmons had 13 points on 6 of 10 shooting and Deshawn Munson had 11 points, 11 rebounds, and 8 assists.
A full box score of the game can be found here.
Despite the final score, it was not always pretty for the Fire on Friday night. Wichita came out on fire (no pun intended) hitting 66.7% of their shots from field and seven of eight three-point attempts in the first quarter. At the half, the SkyKings led 65-62 but the Fire, as they have done all year, played an outstanding third quarter. The Fire outscored the 44-23 in the third quarter to take a 104-88 lead going into the fourth. From there, the Fire were able to coast to victory. The 148 points the Fire scored were the third most in team history.
“You have got to give a lot of credit to Wichita,” Dannhoff said. “Honestly, I thought with the majority of shots they were making in the first half, we had a hand right there. They have some really good shooters, so we weren’t totally surprised. But they just kept making shots and that made it really tough on us.”
With the win, the Fire improved to 4-0 on the season. Up next, the Fire hit the road to take on the Little Rock Lighting at Hall High School in Little Rock, Arkansas on Sunday, March 17 at 3 p.m. You can watch a live stream of the game on TBL TV or listen to the game on KGFF Radio (100.9 FM/1450 AM/KGFF.com).
Be sure to follow the Fire on social media (Instagram, Facebook, X) to stay up to date with all the latest information on the Fire.
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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, now with 38 teams across the U.S. and Canada. Along with winning the TBL championship in 2023, 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.
The TBL season begins in February and runs through June, concluding with a championship playoff tournament. The players that make up the rosters of the TBL teams are former NCAA (Division I, II or III) or NAIA athletes. Many have played in the NBA’s developmental G-League and/or professionally overseas.
Story by Chris Cox / Photos by Kent Bush