Steel City Yellow Jackets Journal

Coach Ace Pippens talks to his club following the Yellow Jackets' 146-133 home win against the Akron Aviators. Photo by Thomas Leturgey By Thomas Leturgey The Steel City Yellow Jackets came from an early deficit, stretched a big lead and nearly let it slip away against a stiff Akron Aviators team Saturday night. The Central Region, Blue Division leading Yellow Jackets outlasted the Aviators 146-133 at A Giving Heart Community Center. The Aviators and Yellow Jackets are both competitive squads. Geographically, the teams are less than two hours apart and the Aviators were just in Pittsburgh for an interleague game with the Western Pennsylvania Wolverines at the Market House on the South Side. On Saturday, both teams were ready. The Aviators jumped out to a five-point lead before Job Brown hit three consecutive three-pointers to get Ace Pippen’s club back into the game. Anthony Coleman kept the gas on the Aviator’s early lead. It took Jay Washington to connect on a 3D opportun...

Kenny Holmes led with a season-high 61 points. Photo by Raymond Durkin. By Thomas Leturgey On a snowy Sunday, January 19, seven members of the Steel City Yellow Jackets, along with coaches and a couple of staff members and three local officials made their way to the cold and snowy confines of A Giving Heart Community Center in the Allentown neighborhood within the city of Pittsburgh. Perhaps more impressively, five players and Monica Belanger the coach of Team Network traveled all the way from Detroit (about 4 and a half hours) to play in Pittsburgh. The team was delayed by about two hours getting to the Steel City and tip-off had to be pushed back; however, Ace Pippen’s team desperately needs to play game as the 2024-2025 campaign quickly winds down. Members of the Yellow Jackets practiced as Team Network hadn’t yet made its way to Allentown. Forward Justin Hamilton, who is having the best year of his career as a defender and rebounder, continued to take left-handed shots from t...