The Great Falls Electric, who have won 19 of their 22 games including nine of their ten home games at Great Falls High’s Swarthout Fieldhouse, finished off their weekend series with the Seattle (WA) Super Hawks (12-9) with a split.
After Friday’s 133-128 setback to the Seattle Super Hawks, Great Falls was eager to get back to their winning ways for Saturday’s contest. The Great Falls Electric pulled off the 117-115 win to deny the Seattle Super Hawks the weekend sweep during Saturday’s The Basketball League (TBL) home contest for the Electric inside Swarthout Fieldhouse at Great Falls High School. Great Falls led by six points with two minutes remaining and spoiled the Super Hawks comeback attempt as Seattle’s David Jenkins Jr., game-winning three point basket rolled off the rim.
Five Great Falls Electric players chipped in over ten points led by KD Moore’s 36 points on 14-for-20 shooting. He also added eight assists. Terry “TJ” Maston Jr. spent 24 minutes on the floor gathering 28 points. Newcomer Robert Upshaw (14 points) and Lyle Hexom and Dexter Williams Jr. tossed in 12 points a piece to round out the double-digit scoring for Great Falls. Hexom also contributed 14 rebounds and ended his night with three blocks.
Meanwhle, David Crisp produced 22 points while Alphonso Anderson (20 points, 13 rebounds) and Nahshon George (18 points, 15 rebounds) each having double-doubles for acting head coach Alex Montgomery’s club, who was filling in for head coach Craig Jackson.
From the moment of the opening tipoff, Great Falls and Seattle never accumulated more than a two possession (four point) lead over their opponent during the first quarter. The scoring remained low (for TBL standards) throughout the quarter as the Super Hawks led by a slim margin, 20-18 after the first twelve minutes. For nearly the first five minutes, Seattle’s defense limited Great Falls to three points before a layup by Terry “TJ” Maston Jr. cut the Electric deficit to 5-9 with 7:18 on the clock. Three minutes later, Great Falls took their first lead (14-13) on Antwaan Cushingberry’s layup, who added six of his nine total points before the second quarter. A long distance trey from behind the arc by Seattle’s David Crisp returned the lead to the Super Hawks (18-16) with under two minutes to play. Antwaan Cushingberry (Great Falls) and Chayce Polynice (Seattle) traded layups prior to the period expiring. KD Moore and Antwaan Cushingberry scored 13 of the 18 Great Falls points while David Crisp and Chayce Polynice registered nine of the 20 points for the visiting team.
A total of 67 points were recorded during the second quarter between these two playoff squads. The quarter saw six ties as both offenses continued to successfully puthe ball in the net. Seattle led by as many as seven points on two occasions, 25-18 and 27-20 , but their lead quickly evaporated with Great Falls connecting on more of their opportunities with the home crowd’s help. Great Falls pulled to within one point (53-52) when the buzzer sounded for halftime.
After halftime, the Electric managed to receive multiple leads but still fell behind 86-85 after three quarters. TJ Maston Jr. recorded nine third quarter points while KD Moore added eight.
KD Moore (momentarily) grabbed the lead away from the Super Hawks with his driving layup 35 seconds into the fourth quarter. Thanks to TJ Maston Jr’s seven consecutive points, Great Falls led 94-90 with 9:46 left in regulation. Both TBL clubs kept it close trading baskets before Lyle Hexom and KD Moore broke out scoring six points in sixty seconds to lift the home team to a six point lead (107-101) with six minutes left. The Electrics led the rest of the way but not before Seattle cut their deficit to 117-115 on a basket by Vincent Boumann with 63 seconds to go. Seattle’s David Jenkins Jr. made it interesting. He missed on this three point shot with three seconds on the scoreboard that could have won the contest for the Washington team and Cushingberry’s rebound sealed the victory. Turnovers plagued both sides of the ball leading to the Electric’s 19th win.
