The Shreveport Mavericks had their only home game in the Central Conference Finals at the Centenary Gold Dome on Thursday night. Unfortunately, the Fire took the only home stand in this series with a 121-108 win. Potawatomi Fire won the rebounding battle almost doubling up on Shreveport at 59-36. The Mavericks didn’t get many second-chance shots as 45 of those rebounds were defensive rebounds. The Mavericks’ defense kept them close as they grabbed 18 steals to the Fire’s only 5.
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Kadavion Jones led the Mavericks with 30 points. Tyronne Jordan added 24 points and had 7 assists. Paul Parks popped 21 points. Jay Hedgeman took a double-double 15 points and led rebounding with 11. Patrick Meyers added 11 points and took 5 steals.
Potawatomi lead scorer was Terry Maston with 38 points. DeShawn Munson took a double-double with 31 points, 14 rebounds, and 7 assists. Daylon Guy contributed 16 points and 9 assists. Kierre Moore also had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.
The Fire tried to make an opening statement early with a 6-0 run right out of the gate. Maston nailed three consecutive layups to give Potawatomi the early lead. The two teams got no more than five points apart from each other the remainder of the period as the two went into second period tied 32-32. Maston had already accumulated 14 points in the first quarter.
Although the first period was quiet, the second period was momentum.chaos. Shreveport started early with an 8-0 run. Bilal Richardson started with a layup followed by Parks burying a three. Richardson drove the lane again drawing the foul on Guy making the basket and scoring his free throw on the three point play. Shreveport moved to 40-32 lead early in the second. The Fire were down nine when they had enough. Lyletacoma Hexom and Moore each scored layups as Guy took care of the charity stripe. Parks and Jordan were cold beyond the arc. Potawtomi closed the gap to 44-41. Evans thought the Fire was a little too close. Evan scored the next six points for the Mavericks moving back to a nine point lead at 50-41. With 4:38 left in the second quarter, Powatomi roared back behind Maston’s three layups and peppered with Guy’s jump shot. The Fire had moved within one point at 53-52. Shreveport took the halftime lead to 61-56.
Potawatomi although down coming into the second half having a strong third quarter. Less than two minutes into the third quarter, the Fire blazed an 11-0 trail to take their first lead since the first quarter. Munson started the run with a layup. Moore got a three point play with a layup and a trip to the charity stripe. Maston added the next four points. Munson ended what he started with another basket and the Fire led 71-68. Shreveport tried to recapture the lead but Potawatomi went on another 9-0 run started by a dunk from Maston. Munson added another layup and free throw. Guy nailed the jump shot. Moore closed it out with two free throws. The Fire pushed their lead to double digits at 85-74. The Fire outscore Shreveport 39-17 in the third quarter and took a 93-78 lead into the final quarter.
The Fire kept control in the fourth quarter although the Mavericks made a late rally with five minutes remaining. Evans drew a three point play behind a foul on a jump shot. Evans struck again beyond the arc and Hedgeman added two free throws to close the lead to 107-98. Potawatomi held on to take the Game 1 Road win over Shreveport.
The Mavericks must do something twice that has not been done all season…beat Potawatomi on their home court twice. The Fire are undefeated at Fire Arena this season. Game 2 will Saturday, June 10 at the Fire Arena at 7 pm. If the Mavericks survive Game 2, the winner take all Game 3 will be Sunday at 7:00 pm.
Winner will face the Western Conference champion. The Western Conference finals is between the Long Beach Waves and the Seattle Super Hawks. Seattle currently leads the series 1-0.
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