Yellow Jackets, Led by Brown, Holmes And Washington Get By Rival Akron, 146-133
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| 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 opportunity
with 3:55 to go in the first quarter for the Yellow Jackets to take a 24-22
lead.
That’s the closest the Aviators would be to regaining the
lead. Coach William Walker scouted the Yellow Jackets well and used strong
defense to stop the Yellow Jackets from pulling away for two long. Walker had a
healthy roster of 11 players for the trip. The Yellow Jackets only had nine in
comparison.
At the end of the first quarter, it was tight with the
Yellow Jackets out in front 38-30.
Cliff McNair started scoring in the second quarter. Brown, Holmes
and Washington extended that lead to 49-32 in the blink of an eye. Cordell
Nicola, who plays sparingly but has a prime opportunity to pick up playing time
with Dominic McClung being out, scored to go up 53-40.
McNair got hot at this point in the game. He hit a jumper
for two, was fouled and connected on two more free throws before striking a 3D
three to make it 62-40. Holmes, McNair, and Tayon English made it 68-47. At the
half Pittsburgh was leading Akron 73-57.
As advertised, the Aviators didn’t want to lose this game
and ground in the Blue Division. In the third quarter, they put the offensive
and defensive pressure on the Yellow Jackets. At one point, Holmes had a three-pointer,
and the Yellow Jackets were pulling away 90-63.
The Aviators would turn things around and outscore the
Yellow Jackets 41-29 the rest of the third. The game was very physical, with individual
and team fouls piling up, with each team frequently going to the foul line.
With 2:09 in the third quarter, Akron had pulled to a 109-95
deficit. Holmes, Holloway and McNair added to the score, making it 119-104 at
the end of 36 minutes of play.
It was beneficial to the Yellow Jackets to have a 20-point
lead as Akron wasn’t ready for the team bus. Coleman was getting stronger as the
game went on. He dominated the fourth quarter, scoring 19 of the team’s 29
points.
With less than four minutes to go, Akron was successfully stopping
the Yellow Jackets’ scoring weapons. Coleman scored, making it a 137-127 game.
Holmes and Brown, with the help of Washington, took over the scoring and pulled
away in the final moments, 146-133.
After the game, Pippens noted that his team became complacent
and the Aviators were anything but. But he did acknowledge it was a good, “gut
check” game for the team, which remains undefeated in their division.
Job Brown led the Yellow Jackets with 32 points. Kenny Holmes
added 29 and Jay Washington 27. Scoring was relatively level across the board
from there. Terrance Holiday and Cliff McNair each had 15, Justin Holiday had
13, Tayon English posted 10, Cordell Nicola added 4 and Theo Brady, Jr. who
came into the game off the bench late, also contributed with 2.
Anthony Coleman led the Aviators with 36 and Johnell Free 33.
The Yellow Jackets still need to make up some games to help
fill out their schedule; however, they are inked to be on the road the next two
weekends. They will return to Pittsburgh in a Round Robin tournament on the
weekend of the 15th and 16th and play the 22nd
against the Central PA Kings in Pittsburgh.
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