Steel City Yellow Jackets Journal

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...

  Claude Scott Jr. (center) leads the Steel City Yellow Jackets in prayer after Sunday's win against the Tri-State Blazers. Photo by Thomas Leturgey By Thomas Leturgey The Steel City Yellow Jackets were victorious in both of their games this past weekend, but neither one of the contests were easy wins. The American Basketball Association (ABA) defending National Champions traveled to Ohio on Saturday and overcame a 20-point deficit to defeat the Bruins, 109-107. The deciding basket in that game was Timothy Jackson’s three-pointer with seven seconds left in the game. The Bruins nearly upset the Yellow Jackets early in the season at home; however, the Yellow Jackets came out with a one-point win in that game. Game statistics and details for that contest have not been provided. Meanwhile, Ace Pippens’ club returned to Pittsburgh for a 5 p.m. start against the Tri-State Blazers. The game promised to be competitive from the first jump as Justin Fagan was the first to score in the game w...

With Claude Scott Jr. (center) and James Jackson (l) helping lead the way, the Steel City Yellow Jackets advance to 11-2 with a 200-89 win over the New Jersey Knights. Photo by Thomas Leturgey By Thomas Leturgey Bulletin Board material. Sometimes it’s an off-handed remark about a particular player or a team. Two weeks ago, the Steel City Yellow Jackets defeated the New Jersey Knights 140-124 on the strength of American Basketball Association (ABA) specific “3 D” rules. Whenever a team earns a turnover in the opposing team’s side of the court, the “3D” red light is activated and the fortuitous team has a shot at an extra point. That means a 2-point jumper is worth three on the scoreboard, and so on. When the Yellow Jackets are pressing, they are frequently the recipient of these “bonus” opportunities.  On January 28, Ace Pippens’ team connected on their fair share of “3D buckets.” On their way out, a high-ranking Knights official was overheard, calling the defending ABA National Cha...

In a touching gathering after the game, members of both the Steel City Yellow Jackets and Central PA Kings prayed for safe travels. By Thomas Leturgey The Central Pennsylvania Kings traveled from Harrisburg to make a point Saturday Night in Pittsburgh. From the pre-game warm-ups, the #21 ranked team looked focused and determined in their showdown with the defending American Basketball Association (ABA) Regional Champions. Led by Mookie Bates, a shooting guard averaging 45 points a game, the 7-4 Kings were poised against the 10-1 Yellow Jackets. Ace Pippens’ squad was depleted. Surging Co-Captain Tone Reddic was unable to make the game, and the immediate future of 7’ center Artis Cleveland remains unclear. Sidelined by a foot injury, Cleveland didn’t play the last few weeks, but was healthy Saturday. The East Detroit resident was home as of Friday. Players at this level often come-and-go from league to league, and Cleveland is hoping to further his hoops dreams in an upcoming training c...

  Forward Claude Scott, Jr. had 34 points Saturday night, his best game of the year. By Thomas Leturgey The Steel City Yellow Jackets traveled to New Jersey on Saturday, and provided one of the team’s most consistent victories of the year. Ace Pippens’ squad, currently ranked third in the country, improves to 10-1 with the 140-124 victory. Forward Claude Scott, Jr. had his biggest game of the year so far with 34 points, and “Player of the Game” honors.  The defending American Basketball Association Champions scored 35 points in the opening quarter, to New Jersey Knights’ 22. Scott had 14 in the opening frame.  The Knights came alive in the second quarter and scored 28 to the Yellow Jackets’ 30. Kenny Holmes had 11 points in that frame.  Steel City led throughout the game, even though the Knights had a strong third quarter. The visitors scored 38 in that frame to the home team’s 37. Staying with the “balance” theme of the night, co-captain Tone Reddic added 11 points ...

Steel City Yellow Jackets Co-Captains Tone Reddic, Sr. (l) and Gilmore Cummings.   By Thomas Leturgey One can tell right away that Steel City Yellow Jackets Co-Captains Tone Reddic, Sr. and Gilmore Cummings simply enjoy each other’s company. When you talk with them, they laugh, pay attention to each other’s thoughts, and have a knack to simply get out of each other’s way when necessary. They met while attending Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. Reddic had gone to the school to study Sports Management and play receiver and safety for the Division II football team, but played a lot of pickup basketball games on campus. A Business Management student, Cummings was on the Fighting Scot’s basketball team and was one of the guys who tried to woo Reddic onto the squad. They immediately became friends. When they discovered they shared a September 28 birthday (Reddic is three years older), the fellow Libras felt they were instant brothers. Reddic left to play basketball at Beaver County C...