Yellow Jackets Rocket To #9 In ABA

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 quarter lead.

The Yellow Jackets came on strong in the final quarter, led by Cormier, Kenny Holmes, James Jackson and Brandon Johnson with 36 points.

In the final moments, the Yellow Jackets were able to pull ahead and stay away. They collected a strong 125-117 victory.

Cormier, who has been the team’s MVP so far this season, led all shooters with 36 points. Kenny Holmes came in second with 25 points. The resident Steel City twins, James and Tim Jackson, are back with the club. James Jackson contributed 19 points and Tim contributed 11. Brandon Johnson posted 15 points. Nine Yellow Jackets scored in the game.

DJ Jones had 29 points for Chicago with a total of 11 players scoring.

There wasn’t much time for the Yellow Jackets to relish the victory.

The Central Pennsylvania Kings, another longtime rival, came to town on Sunday afternoon and the Yellow Jackets were ready.

Cormier landed four three-pointers in the first quarter and led the Yellow Jackets to an early 70-31 score in the first quarter. They continued to widen the lead with a 56-30 second quarter.

The Kings weren’t going to rest. In fact, they outscored the home town team 28-29 in the third. In the final quarter, both teams didn’t focus on defense. The Yellow Jackets scored 71 points and made a serious charge to 200. The final score was 195-133.

Cormier once again led all scorers with 49 points. Kenny Holmes, who celebrated a birthday on Sunday, added 44. Tim Jackson had 31 and James Jackson added 21. Brandon Johnson had 17 points.

Mook Bates led the Kings with 48 points.

With the wins, the Yellow Jackets remain undefeated with a 5-0 record. Largely due to the fact they beat Chicago, the Yellow Jackets rocketed their way up the ABA’s Top 25. This time last week, the Yellow Jackets weren’t on that list, but now they rest at #9.

The Fury drops to #19. There are 12 undefeated teams currently in the ABA, with the Buffalo Extreme topping the list at 6-0.

Next up, at home on the 29th, the Yellow Jackets play the 6-0, 6th ranked Ohio Kings.

The Yellow Jackets stand atop the ABA’s BLUE Division – Alpha Conference—which also includes the Akron Aviators and Port Huron Cougars.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Yellow Jackets Win 202-78, Need To Make Up Games For Any Playoff Bid

Image
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...
Read more

Yellow Jackets, Led by Brown, Holmes And Washington Get By Rival Akron, 146-133

Image
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...
Read more

Yellow Jackets Defeat Columbus 136-103, Advance To Division Championship Next Weekend

Image
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 ...
Read more