What a season the Great Falls Electric have had as they have gone 23-3 so far after they dominated the 24-game The Basketball League (TBL) Regular season with 21 victories.
Great Falls, who was the top team in the West Conference’s Pacific Northwest Division all season long, did not have to play in Tuesday’s Play-In game and advanced to the second round of the TBL Pacific Division Finals where they had to travel to Seattle, Washington to challenge the Seattle Super Hawks, who defeated the Wenatchee (WA) Bighorns (128-107) in the Play-In contest to play to get the right to play Great Falls in -the second round.
On Wednesday in Seattle for Game 1 of the best-of-three TBL West Conference Division Finals, KD Moore, Lyle Hexom, and Robert Upshaw combined to score 85 of Great Falls’ 127 points as they took care of the Super Hawks on the road, 127-114. Great Falls led throughout the contest. Hexom and Upshaw also pulled down ten rebounds and Moore dished out eight assists. David Jenkins Jr. and Emeche Wells scored 28 and 21 points, respectively for Seattle in their loss.
After a travel day on Thursday, Great Falls played host for Game 1 on Friday in front of over 500 fans at the University of Providence’s McLaughlin Center. Great Falls played all 12 of the regular season home dates at Great Falls High’s Swarthout Fieldhouse (capacity: 3,000) but due to scheduling conflicts, played at the University.
The game was close throughout but Great Falls survived a few failed comeback attempts by the Seattle Super Hawks to win the best-of-three series, 115-106 behind the solid offensive efforts from KD Moore (22 points, 8 assists), Tremont Robinson-White (18 points), Antwaan Cushingberry (15 points), Lyle Hexom and Jeremy Harris each contributed 14 points apiece and Robert Upshaw tallied 13 points for the reigning TBL regular season Pacific Division champions. Upshaw’s powerful presence led to four blocks and Hexom and Upshaw each registered ten rebounds.
Great Falls opened up the first five minutes of the contest by scoring 14 points while holding the Super Hawks to nine. Dexter Williams Jr., TJ Maston, Jr., KD Moore and Lyle Hexom all got into the scoring column. The home team led by as many as ten points (23-13) on a Jeremy Harris jumper as the Electric led 36-28 before the start of teh second quarter.
Great Falls’ offense came out of the beginning of the second quarter on a 9-2 run with baskets by Jeremy Harris, TJ Maston Jr., KD Moore and Tremont Robinson-White. Emeche Wells of Seattle scored on a dunk with 10:21 shown on the clock during the run for Great Falls. The Electric took a solid lead (62-46) into the break.
The Electric, coached by Steve Keller, tacked on 31 points in the third frame for a commanding 93-73 lead with Great Falls never relinquishing their lead.
The Super Hawks offense erupted for seventeen straight points in the fourth quarter as Seattle cut their deficit to 93-90 with eight minutes remaining. A pair of free throws by Great Falls big man Robert Upshaw stopped the drought. Great Falls’ energy was revived as they got their offense going with an 8-0 run highlighted by field goals from KD Moore, Antwaan Cushingberry, Robert Upshaw and topped off with a Lyle Hexom layup before an official’s timeout was called. Seattle hung in there and trailed 104-101 with 3:44 left. Great Falls capitalized on some miscues by Seattle and went on to the nine point victory to send Seattle back home.
The win by the Electric meant there would not be a Game 3 between these two rivals as Seattle’s season came to an end.
Emeche Wells led head coach Alex Montgomery’s squad with 21 points on 8-for-12 shooting and two blocks. In addition to his 19 points, Deon Stroud led his team in rebounds with eleven and assists (five). Seattle finished their 2025 TBL season with 14 wins and eleven losses.
