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...

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 ...

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...

  Steel City Yellow Jackets guard Tayon English. Photo courtesy of Raymond Durkin. By Thomas Leturgey One week after a rare, 113-109 loss at home to the Number 2 ranked Buffalo Extreme, the American Basketball Association (ABA) Steel City Yellow Jackets hit the road to nearby Akron to face off against the Aviators. This was a showdown in the Central Region’s Blue Division of the ABA. Last week’s game saw tension following the game, as the Yellow Jackets have had a harder-than-usual beginning to their season. There have been controversial games that has forced the club to nearly “run the table” if they want to return to post-season play. Despite some wintery conditions, the Yellow Jackets made the 110-mile trek to Akron, ready to play. Ace Pippens’ team raced to a 27-17 first quarter lead before settling into a 63-40 advantage at the end of the first half. Guard Tayon English, who has become one the team’s leading three-point shooters scored 22 points in the first half wit...

The Steel City Yellow Jackets celebrate after winning 116-103 Saturday night. Photo by Thomas Leturgey. By Thomas Leturgey The Steel City Yellow Jackets (2-1) got back on the winning track Saturday Night in Pittsburgh, but it did not come easy, 116-103 over the Columbus Wizards. It also appears that the Pittsburgh’ entry in the American Basketball Association (ABA) may have a new star shooting guard among its midst. On the strength of 14 points in the fourth quarter, Jay Washington lead all Yellow Jackets with 34. The Wizards came to play with a strong starting lineup. All five starters—Jay Farrow, Allante Gorham, RJ Fairrow, Phil Bledsoe Jr. and Branden Wilkins played key roles in keeping the game close all evening. That to that, sixth man Sean Rogers and Columbus brought a formidable team against Ace Pippen’s club. Job Brown and Kenny Holmes brought they Yellow Jackets up the court in the early going, and Jay Washington provided pivotal play. The Yellow Jackets led througho...

by Thomas Leturgey The Steel City Yellow Jackets are looking forward to having Libby's Chicken after this Saturday night's game at A Giving Heart Community Center. Ace Pippen's team traveled to Buffalo last weekend and were struck with their first loss of the season against the Extreme, 95-81. Guard Kenny Holmes led the Yellow Jackets with 24 points, while fellow guard Job Brown posted 19. Terrance Holloway added 17, Jay Washington had 10, Justin Hamilton 7 and Clifton McNair contributed with four. Team officials say that the college-style red, white and blue basketball the Extreme provided for the game felt off, and the shooting for both teams might have suffered. After the first quarter, both teams only had 14 points. Even Holmes wasn't immune to errant air balls. The visiting Yellow Jackets did gain a lead in the game, but in the final quarter, the Extreme gained the lead and continued to extend until the final buzzer. "We shot the ball horribly," Pippens w...

Head Coach Ace Pippens instructs the Yellow Jackets before their season opener last week. Photo by Assistant Coach Charles Cook. by Thomas Leturgey The American Basketball Association (ABA) #20 ranked Steel City Yellow Jackets are on the road Saturday afternoon, November 9 to take on the #11 ranked Buffalo eXtreme. The 3-hour, 218-mile trek is the first road odyssey for Ace Pippen's club, after its 166-68 win over the Port Huron Cougars last weekend. "It will take a team effort and relentless defense to win this game," wrote Pippens in an email. "We must rebound the basketball." If there was an issue with an explosive 98-point win, it was with rebounding. Pippens was frustrated especially early in the contest when missed shots weren't finding their way into the tallest group of forwards perhaps in the team's 10-year history. Jay Washington, Theo Braddy Jr. and Cordell Nicola all join an experienced Yellow Jackets squad with Dominick McClung and Justin Ha...

Steel City Yellow Jackets head coach Ace Pippens addresses his team after their 166-68 win. Photos by Thomas Leturgey By Thomas Leturgey At the very beginning of the Steel City Yellow Jackets vs. Port Huron Cougars game, the home team looked to be on its heels. A large crowd was on hand to watch the American Basketball Association (ABA) team return to A Giving Heart Community Center after a one-year hiatus. Port Huron’s Aron “Skeez” Smith and Rob Robinson jumped ahead to a 4-0 lead with about a minute and a half in the game. Steel City newcomer Jay Washington hit a jumper, was fouled and connected on a free throw to get Ace Pippens’ team on the scoreboard. The Cougars’ Xander Mylan answered with a shot to extend the Michigan team’s lead to 6-3. And then the Yellow Jackets’ Kenny Holmes got the ball. He hit a three pointer and tied the game 6-6 with 8:17 to go in the quarter. Another newcomer at guard, Job Brown, hit his first jumper in Black and Gold. The Yellow Jackets extended th...

Ace Pippens and guard Kenny Holmes are ready to bring the Steel City Yellow Jackets back to Pittsburgh. Photo by Thomas Leturgey By Thomas Leturgey Averill “Ace” Pippens never wavered. The owner/coach of Pittsburgh’s entry into the American Basketball Association (ABA) always said the team would be back. And the black and yellow of the Steel City Yellow Jackets opens its 2024-2025 this Saturday in the Allentown neighborhood within the city of Pittsburgh. Pippens, who coached the team to years of playoff success before winning the ABA Championship in Baltimore in 2022, shut the club down after losing in the regional playoffs on their own court at the A Giving Heart Community Center gymnasium on Climax Street. The team compiled a 14-2 regular season record when they lost. There was some strife and hard feelings among some of the team that he doesn’t talk about. A startup squad, led by the nucleus of the squad that defeated Team Trouble 123-118 in Baltimore, only to lose to Clevelan...

Steel City Queens Assistant Coach Charles Cook talks with DC's Head Coach Wes Graves. Photos by Thomas Leturgey By Thomas Leturgey In pre-game preparations, Steel City Queens’ Assistant Coach Charles Cook told the team that they needed to avoid turnovers to defeat the Women’s American Basketball Association (WABA) champions, the DC Cyclones. For the first few moments of the Queens’ Home Opener at A Giving Heart Community Center in the Allentown neighborhood within the city of Pittsburgh, the club did just that. Cook (l) addresses the Queens (including owner and coach Ace Pippens in the center) before Saturday's home opener. Down to just seven players, owner and head coach Ace Pippen’s team took an immediate lead with Ariana Sanders’ jump shot about 30 seconds into the game. DC’s Octavia Jett-Wilson tied the game and Sasha Orr tied that score after a Queens turnover and three-point play within the confines of the WABA’s “Three D” rule. [ ABA and WABA rules dictate if a turno...

The 2022-2023 season ends for the Steel City Yellow Jackets. Photo by Thomas Leturgey.  By Thomas Leturgey The American Basketball Association (ABA) will have a new National Champion in 2023. The Steel City Yellow Jackets, who had not played a game since February 19, were not able to defeat a fully-staffed Burning River Buckets team for a third time this season. The game, which was tight for three quarters, unraveled in the fourth and the Yellow Jackets were defeated for only the third time this season, 143-124. It was 41 days ago that the Yellow Jackets won their last contest, and three games were canceled by the league. The Yellow Jackets ended the regular season 14-2 and poised with a bye into the semi-finals. Meanwhile, the 12-4 Burning River Buckets, who lost two games to the Yellow Jackets in one home-and-away weekend last November. The team from Cleveland only got stronger and healthier. They earned their way into the playoffs and defeated the always-tough Ohio Bruins to fac...

Some of the key players, including the "Sting Line" for the 14-2 Steel City Yellow Jackets in 2023. By Thomas Leturgey The defending American Basketball Association (ABA) champion Steel City Yellow Jackets enter this weekend with two away games in the Midwest, before returning next weekend for the season finale in Pittsburgh. At 14-2, the team is looking forward to a playoff season that’s still being ironed out. The Elite 8 in the ABA has never been more tight and Ace Pippens’ fifth-ranked team needs to be victorious in all three regular-season games to launch a successful defense of the league’s top prize. The “Sting Line” is ready.  As captain Gilmore Cummings dubbed it, the “Five” comprises himself, fellow captains Tone Reddic, Sr. and Claude Scott, Jr., along with twins James and Timothy Jackson. It is a lineup that hasn’t been on the court together much this season, but it will need to be running at all cylinders to continue the charge to winning again. This season’s ABA...