Potawatomi Fire Defeat the Great Falls Electric in TBL Semi-Finals to Advance to Third Straight Championship Series

Photo courtesy of Great Falls Electric The 2025 Great Falls Electric (25-5) second season in The Basketball League (TBL) came to an end on Sunday night when the Potawatomi Fire (25-1) won their best-of-three TBL Semi-Finals over the Electric (131-113) in two games at FireLake Arena in Shawnee, Oklahoma. Great Falls hosted Potawatomi in Game 1 on Thursday night (June 12th) inside the McLaughlin Center on the campus of the University of Providence in Great Falls, Montana. The home team led throughout most of the contest before the Fire made a comeback to tie the game at the end of regulation. The Electric and Fire needed two overtimes to determine a winning team with the Fire topping Great Falls, 124-122. Daylon Guy led the way for both clubs with 35 points and 12 rebounds and dished out 14 assists for the Fire. Great Falls was paced by Lyle Hexom (31 points, 14 rebounds), Tremont Robinson-White (23 points, 3 steals, and 3 blocks), Robert Upshaw (22 points), KD Moore (16 points), and TJ Maston Jr. had 12 points and 11 assists. During Game 2 on Sunday, Lyle Hexom scored the first points of the game on a long distance shot for the early 3-0 lead for the Electric. Three minutes into the second game of the semi-finals, the Electric pulled away and led 13-2 with Lyle Hexom, Robert Upshaw, Dexter Williams Jr., and Tremont Robinson-White all collecting points. Paul Harrions made the lone layup for the Fire one minute into the opening quarter. Later in the stanza, the defending TBL champions went on their own 13-2 run to even the game at 15-15 with 5:34 remaining. Jachai Simmons, Jevonlean Hedgeman, and Paul Harrison each provided baskets to give Potawatomi their largest lead (22-17) with three minutes remaining. Great Falls was behind on the scoreboard, 26-25 after the first twelve minutes. The Electric briefly led 27-26 eight seconds into the second quarter on a layup by KD Moore. The Fire’s lead grew to nine points (38-29) on a three-pointer by Ricardo Artis II early in the stanza. Potawatomi’s offense was too dominant as they outscored the visiting Montana team, 45-24. The host team scored the final five points of the half for the 67-49 advantage. After the break, the Electric regrouped after their halftime talk and emerged from the locker room scoring the first seven points of the third frame. Robert Upshaw, Tremont Robinson-White, and KD Moore cut Great Falls’ deficit to 69-56 before the Fire erased two minutes off the clock with nine unanswered points (78-56). A pair of free throws stopped the scoring drought for the Electric. The Fire led by 19 points (101-82) with one period left. Both squads traded baskets to start the fourth quarter. Tremont Robinson-White’s pull up jumper cut into the Fire’s lead, 113-98 with six minutes left. The lead was too much for Great Falls, who made their first playoff appearance in their second season in the TBL this season. KD Moore and Tremont Robinson-White scored the final points for Great Falls in the last game of their season by converting layups. The Potawatomi Fire showed the league why they are one step closer to their third consecutivet TBL title with their 16 point win over the Electric, 131-113. In Game 2, Jachai Simmons scored 29 points on 12-for-18 from the field in 38 minutes of action for head coach Mark Dannhoff’s squad. Ricardo Artis II, Paul Harrison, and Daylon Guy combined for 68 points. Six players for the Electric added significant contributions for the only TBL team in Montana headlined by Robert Upshaw’s 28 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 blocks. KD Moore, the leading regular season scorer for the Electric, finished his first year as a member of the Electric basketball team with 26 markers. Tremont Robinson-White (24 points), Lyle Hexom (23 points), Dexter Williams Jr., and Terry “TJ: Maston Jr. rounded out the scoring with six points each. Great Falls finished their season with a 25-5 overall record (including four playoff victories) in head coach Steve Keller’s first season at the helm of the TBL’s West Conference champions. Meanwhile, the Fire remained undefeated in postseason play with a 6-0 record and an overall record (so far) of 25-1 and move on to another TBL championship opportuntiy. The Fire will meet the Capital Seahawks, based out of Washington, D.C., who needed two games of their best-of-three semi-final series to get by the Maryland-based Frederick Flying Cows for a chance at the 2025 TBL National Championship.