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Holmes Posts 48, Yellow Jackets Cruise In Exciting Return To ABA, 166-68

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Steel City Yellow Jackets head coach Ace Pippens addresses his team after their 166-68 win. Photos by Thomas Leturgey By Thomas Leturgey At the very beginning of the Steel City Yellow Jackets vs. Port Huron Cougars game, the home team looked to be on its heels. A large crowd was on hand to watch the American Basketball Association (ABA) team return to A Giving Heart Community Center after a one-year hiatus. Port Huron’s Aron “Skeez” Smith and Rob Robinson jumped ahead to a 4-0 lead with about a minute and a half in the game. Steel City newcomer Jay Washington hit a jumper, was fouled and connected on a free throw to get Ace Pippens’ team on the scoreboard. The Cougars’ Xander Mylan answered with a shot to extend the Michigan team’s lead to 6-3. And then the Yellow Jackets’ Kenny Holmes got the ball. He hit a three pointer and tied the game 6-6 with 8:17 to go in the quarter. Another newcomer at guard, Job Brown, hit his first jumper in Black and Gold. The Yellow Jackets extended th
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A Triumphant Return In The Making: The Steel City Yellow Jackets Return To The Court This Weekend

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Ace Pippens and guard Kenny Holmes are ready to bring the Steel City Yellow Jackets back to Pittsburgh. Photo by Thomas Leturgey By Thomas Leturgey Averill “Ace” Pippens never wavered. The owner/coach of Pittsburgh’s entry into the American Basketball Association (ABA) always said the team would be back. And the black and yellow of the Steel City Yellow Jackets opens its 2024-2025 this Saturday in the Allentown neighborhood within the city of Pittsburgh. Pippens, who coached the team to years of playoff success before winning the ABA Championship in Baltimore in 2022, shut the club down after losing in the regional playoffs on their own court at the A Giving Heart Community Center gymnasium on Climax Street. The team compiled a 14-2 regular season record when they lost. There was some strife and hard feelings among some of the team that he doesn’t talk about. A startup squad, led by the nucleus of the squad that defeated Team Trouble 123-118 in Baltimore, only to lose to Clevelan
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Defending WABA Champs Drop Queens In Home Opener, 104-51

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Steel City Queens Assistant Coach Charles Cook talks with DC's Head Coach Wes Graves. Photos by Thomas Leturgey By Thomas Leturgey In pre-game preparations, Steel City Queens’ Assistant Coach Charles Cook told the team that they needed to avoid turnovers to defeat the Women’s American Basketball Association (WABA) champions, the DC Cyclones. For the first few moments of the Queens’ Home Opener at A Giving Heart Community Center in the Allentown neighborhood within the city of Pittsburgh, the club did just that. Cook (l) addresses the Queens (including owner and coach Ace Pippens in the center) before Saturday's home opener. Down to just seven players, owner and head coach Ace Pippen’s team took an immediate lead with Ariana Sanders’ jump shot about 30 seconds into the game. DC’s Octavia Jett-Wilson tied the game and Sasha Orr tied that score after a Queens turnover and three-point play within the confines of the WABA’s “Three D” rule. [ ABA and WABA rules dictate if a turno
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Steel City Yellow Jackets Lose In Semi-Finals Reddic Retires, 143-124

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The 2022-2023 season ends for the Steel City Yellow Jackets. Photo by Thomas Leturgey.  By Thomas Leturgey The American Basketball Association (ABA) will have a new National Champion in 2023. The Steel City Yellow Jackets, who had not played a game since February 19, were not able to defeat a fully-staffed Burning River Buckets team for a third time this season. The game, which was tight for three quarters, unraveled in the fourth and the Yellow Jackets were defeated for only the third time this season, 143-124. It was 41 days ago that the Yellow Jackets won their last contest, and three games were canceled by the league. The Yellow Jackets ended the regular season 14-2 and poised with a bye into the semi-finals. Meanwhile, the 12-4 Burning River Buckets, who lost two games to the Yellow Jackets in one home-and-away weekend last November. The team from Cleveland only got stronger and healthier. They earned their way into the playoffs and defeated the always-tough Ohio Bruins to face of
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Yellow Jackets Will Need “Sting Line” To Deliver In Ever-Changing ABA Playoffs

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Some of the key players, including the "Sting Line" for the 14-2 Steel City Yellow Jackets in 2023. By Thomas Leturgey The defending American Basketball Association (ABA) champion Steel City Yellow Jackets enter this weekend with two away games in the Midwest, before returning next weekend for the season finale in Pittsburgh. At 14-2, the team is looking forward to a playoff season that’s still being ironed out. The Elite 8 in the ABA has never been more tight and Ace Pippens’ fifth-ranked team needs to be victorious in all three regular-season games to launch a successful defense of the league’s top prize. The “Sting Line” is ready.  As captain Gilmore Cummings dubbed it, the “Five” comprises himself, fellow captains Tone Reddic, Sr. and Claude Scott, Jr., along with twins James and Timothy Jackson. It is a lineup that hasn’t been on the court together much this season, but it will need to be running at all cylinders to continue the charge to winning again. This season’s ABA
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Yellow Jackets Improve To 14-2 With Tough Wins Over Bruins And Blazers

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  Claude Scott Jr. (center) leads the Steel City Yellow Jackets in prayer after Sunday's win against the Tri-State Blazers. Photo by Thomas Leturgey By Thomas Leturgey The Steel City Yellow Jackets were victorious in both of their games this past weekend, but neither one of the contests were easy wins. The American Basketball Association (ABA) defending National Champions traveled to Ohio on Saturday and overcame a 20-point deficit to defeat the Bruins, 109-107. The deciding basket in that game was Timothy Jackson’s three-pointer with seven seconds left in the game. The Bruins nearly upset the Yellow Jackets early in the season at home; however, the Yellow Jackets came out with a one-point win in that game. Game statistics and details for that contest have not been provided. Meanwhile, Ace Pippens’ club returned to Pittsburgh for a 5 p.m. start against the Tri-State Blazers. The game promised to be competitive from the first jump as Justin Fagan was the first to score in the game w
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A Big Weekend Ahead As The Yellow Jackets Face Bruins And Blazers

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  By Thomas Leturgey The Steel City Yellow Jackets have an important weekend coming up as the regular season starts to wind down. The defending American Basketball Association (ABA) Champions were supposed to play this past Saturday against the DC Soul at home, but COVID canceled that contest (it isn’t certain if that game will be rescheduled). Now, the 10-2 Yellow Jackets are set to take on the Ohio Bruins in Westerville, Ohio. The Ohio/Pennsylvania rivals played in Pittsburgh back on November 20, and the Yellow Jackets squeaked by with a 131-130 victory. The Steel City’s franchise improved to 3-0 in the early season. Kenny Holmes had 40 points for the winners, but since then he has moved on to Canada. In addition, 7’ Artis Cleveland collected 18 rebounds.  But Antonio Reddic, Sr., Gilmore Cummings and Claude Scott, Jr. were on the injured list. Since then, Reddic has returned to All-Star form, and Scott is nearly at mid-season form. Cummings is coming off of concussion protocol after
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