Steel City Yellow Jackets Journal

The aftermath of a Corey DeBerry dunk. Photo courtesy of Ohio Kings. By Thomas Leturgey The Steel City Yellow Jackets leapfrog over the Ohio Kings in the American Basketball Association (ABA) standings after a controversial and unique ending to their game last weekend. As of November 24, the Ohio Kings were ranked #6 in the ABA’s weekly poll with a 5-0 record, and the Yellow Jackets (5-0) catapulted to #9 after finally playing enough games (and defeating the defending champion Chicago Fury) to qualify. That lead to the November 29 showdown between the Kings who were behind the Nashville Aces in the Red Division – Alpha Conference and the BLUE Division – Alpha Conference leading Yellow Jackets in Pittsburgh. Ace Pippens’ team, led largely by a whole new group of players, has still performed to the Yellow Jackets’ standard. Guards Dylan Cormier and Kenny Holmes have both come on strong in the early going of the season. Earlier this season both players scored more than 60 points i...

The Steel City Yellow Jackets celebrate. Photo courtesy of the Steel City Yellow Jackets By Thomas Leturgey After a highly successful weekend, including retribution against the reigning American Basketball Association (ABA) National Champions, the Chicago Fury. Last spring, Ace Pippens’ team lost a Region Semifinal matchup to the Fury by a score of 100-86. The club has never taken any losses, especially those in playoff brackets, lightly. So, they have been looking forward to this chance all early season. The Fury (6-1 when they came to town) made their way to A Giving Heart Community Center in the Allentown neighborhood of Pittsburgh Saturday Night. The game was tooth and nail throughout with both teams taking momentary leads. At the end of the first quarter, on the strength of Dylon Cormier, the Yellow Jackets had a 34-30 lead. Mike Williams’ club rebounded and outscored the Yellow Jackets 27-22 in the second quarter. The Yellow Jackets then came back with a 32-28 third qua...