JOURNAL SPORTS
The Shreveport Mavericks will begin their best-of-three series with the Potawatomi Fire tonight trying to defend their Central Conference championship in The Basketball League at the Gold Dome with tipoff at 7:05 p.m.
The Mavericks defeated Enid 2-1 in last year’s championship series after they knocked off Potawatomi in the semifinals of the conference bracket 2-1. They went on to win the TBL championship by topping Albany 2-1.
Shreveport, the No. 2 seeded team in the Central bracket, defeated Wichita Sunday at the Dome 120-116 to sweep the series from the SkyKings. The Mavericks got a pair of double-doubles from Paul Parks (31 points, 11 rebounds) and Jay Hedgeman (26 points and 14 rebounds) in the win. Kadavion Evans scored 12 points, Winford Ross added 11 points and seven rebounds and Ty Jordan contributed 10 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
Potawatomi, the No. 1 seed, eliminated Enid Saturday night 101-86 to sweep the series from the Outlaws. K.D. Moore led the Fire with 25 points, Chuck Guy tallied 18 points and handed out seven assists and Deshawn Munson had 16 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists.
Parks leads the Mavericks in scoring at 26.7 points per game followed by Evans with 18.8 and Jordan at 18.1. Hedgeman scores 13 a game and collects a team-best 7.8 rebounds per game. PJ Meyers leads the Mavs with six assists a game and contributes a 12.5 scoring average.
Munson leads Potawatomi with 18.3 points, is second in the league in rebounding averaging 12.2, and gives out 7.7 assists per game. Chuck Guy leads the league in assists with 9.5 per contest and scores at a 15.7 clip. Moore is second on the team averaging 17.1 points per game.
The series will shift to Shawnee, Oklahoma for Game 2 on Saturday and if necessary, Game 3 on Sunday.
