Yellow Jackets Defeat Columbus 136-103, Advance To Division Championship Next Weekend
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| The Steel City Yellow Jackets gather at midcourt following their win against Columbus. Photo by Raymond Durkin. |
By Thomas Leturgey
The Steel City Yellow Jackets are returning to the American
Basketball Association (ABA) Divisional playoffs in Chicago.
Ace Pippens’ club got by a competitive Columbus Wizards team
Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh, 136-103. That was the Central Division, Blue
Region championship game and the first playoff win for Pittsburgh’s franchise
since 2023.
Even before the contest, guard Job Brown was talking to his teammates
about the importance of focusing on the task at hand. The team had played a
scrimmage, warm up on Thursday night and the players felt that they had worked
out some cinques in their collective game.
“Defense wins championships,” said Pippens in the pre-game
meeting. And it was defense that ultimately won the day for the Yellow Jackets.
Phil Bledsoe, Sr.’s team is physically larger than the
Yellow Jackets and they brought more players to the prospective dogfight. Pippens’
had seven players, while Columbus brought 11. But Pittsburgh was faster and
brought the better fight.
Columbus scored first in the game with Allante Gorham
hitting a jumper and the Yellow Jackets failing to score in the opening
moments. Branden Wilkins hit a jumper to push the score to 4-0. Job Brown then
hit a 3-pointer, Jay Washington followed with a basket, Tayon English
contributed a three and Kenny Holmes added a finger roll that put the that put
the Yellow Jackets on top by six points. In many games, that would have been
it. The Yellow Jackets would have cruised.
But not Sunday. Allante Gorham and Jay Farrow led a charge
that tied the game at 14. Both teams traded shots, and the first quarter ended
with the Yellow Jackets winning 29-23.
Wilkins began the second quarter with a score under the
basket. In the physicality of the moment, Tayon English hit the hardwood with a
deep, definitive thud. He was in obvious pain, but it took a minute for play to
stop on the other end of the court.
English recovered and went to the locker room, only to
return. After the game he said, “I had to pop my shoulder back in.”
Wilkins and Farrow led Columbus back to a 32-32 tie. Gorham
hit a three that gave Columbus a three-point advantage.
English made his way back into the game after flexing his
shoulder while on the bench. The tandem of Holmes and Brown (with a
three-pointer) got the lead back. But Farrow and Washington traded scores.
Both teams scored in the closing moments of the half but it
was Washington who clubbed a slam dunk at the end of the half. The Yellow
Jackets were up 54-49.
The third quarter was a long and physical affair for the
Yellow Jackets. Columbus, largely on the backs of Bledsoe and Gorham, kept the
score close. With 7:53 to go in the third, Columbus was only down by two,
63-61. Brown, Holmes and Washington all scored to extend the lead to 10 points.
That’s the closest Columbus would come for the rest of the quarter. At the end
of the third, the Yellow Jackets were up 94-78.
In the third quarter, Brown had four 3-pointers and he added
two more in the 4th quarter. Kenny Holmes had 18 points in the
second half. Tayon English, with a compromised shoulder, scored eight points in
the third and nine in the 4th.
The rebounding of Justin Hamilton cannot be diminished from
this game. At 6’8”, Hamilton is a physical presence in the ABA and aside from
6’7” Jay Washington, the Yellow Jackets to rely on guards like Holmes, Brown
and English for help under the board. Columbus had 6’7” Brandon Wilkins, 6’6”
Phil Bledsoe, Jr. and 6’7” R.J. Fairrow underneath.
However, the Yellow Jackets continued to out run the
Wizards. Hamilton hammered home a dunk to make it 110-87. Gorham scored a
three-pointer to make it 110-90, which was really as close as the Wizards came.
Cliff McNair added a three-pointer to make it 134-101 and Holmes hit a basket
to top off the afternoon, 136-103.
Brown led the Yellow Jackets with 35 and Holmes added 31. English
never waivered after the injury and closed out the game with 26 points. Jay
Washington posted 16 and Terrance Holloway scored all but five of his 15 points
in the second half.
Hamilton added seven points and McNair had six.
Jay Farrow led the Wizards with 31.
“We used our athleticism. We played well together,” said
Pippens after the game. “We got everybody involved.”
“This is another journey, a new journey,” said Holmes, who
along with Hamilton, played in the 2022 Championship game. “It’s a whole new
team. A new bond and atmosphere.”
Holmes that it was the team playing as a cohesive unit,
causing turnovers and playing great defense that led to the win.
The Yellow Jackets travel to Chicago next weekend for a
two-day Divisional tournament. They are scheduled to play sometime on Saturday
(team to be determined) and the divisional championship on Sunday.
The ABA finals are scheduled for April 4-6 in St. Louis.
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