Steel City Yellow Jackets Journal

Ace Pippens and the Yellow Jackets trophies from the 2021-2022 season. Photo from Pippens' FB. By Thomas Leturgey Ace Pippens was in need of a haircut. On Friday, October 28, the Owner, CEO, and Head Coach of the Steel City Yellow Jackets was gearing up for the next day’s team pictures. On November 5, the Steel City Yellow Jackets look to keep the 23-year-old American Basketball Association (ABA) National Championship. The Yellow Jackets are the latest addition to Pittsburgh’s legendary status as City of Champions and the team, as well as Pippens, have never been more enthused and excited. “It’s Time,” Pippens said from his Churchill home Saturday Night. He didn’t get the hair cut, nor did the team get pictures taken. His schedule as President, CEO and Coach had to take a back seat to being a Dad and family man. The team has started practice three days a week for the grueling season. Some 18 games are scheduled for the 2022-2023 season, with some of their frequent foes refusing to ...

By Thomas Leturgey The Defending American Basketball Association (ABA) Champion Steel City Yellow Jackets were not leaning back on their collective laurels Saturday Night when they opened up their 2022-2023 campaign with a pre-season drubbing of the visiting Bridgeport Bombers. Owner and Head Coach Ace Pippens’ Yellow Jackets came out as if they had something to prove, by out-scoring Chris William’s club 40-12 in the first quarter. The Steel City twins James and Tim Jackson led the Yellow Jackets scoring in the first 12-minutes. James scored five first-quarter jumpers for 10 points while Tim had six points. LeAndre Evans, who got more playing time in this game, added six points in the first quarter. Brandon Johnson, who was sidelined during the Yellow Jackets’ playoff run in April, had five points. Newcomer Amaru Caldwell had four points in the opening salvo. Incredibly, nine different Yellow Jackets players scored in the first quarter.  The National Champions were only beginning t...

By Thomas Leturgey The Steel City Queens finished off their home season Women’s American Basketball Association (WABA) on Sunday, losing to the DC Cyclones 77-68. “It was another tough loss,” noted Queens Owner and Head Coach Ace Pippens after the game. It was the sixth loss of the season for the 0-6 Queens.  The Steel City ladies started off slowly, but over the past few games have really picked up their collective game. Point guard Sabrina McLin, who has only played in a few games for the home team, reclaimed her position as the preemptive Most Valuable Player. Sunday afternoon at A Giving Heart Community Center, she led the team with 25 points. McLin scored four points in the first, five in the second, and eight points in the 3rd and 4th periods, respectively. The Cyclones called for a time out after Ariana Sanders' short jumper extended an early lead to 12-5. Ty Polk, who has chronicled the Queens season on YouTube, noticed that the Queens offense had an early game "togeth...

The Steel City Queens within two points of their first win of the season. Photo by Thomas Leturgey.  By Thomas Leturgey The Steel City Queens provided their best 40 minutes of basketball this Women’s American Basketball Association (WABA) of the season, but ultimately fell to the Virginia Hearts 74-72. Ike Burgman’s 2-1 team drove the four hours from Northern Virginia to A Giving Heart Community Center for the official second-half of the Queens’ 0-4 season. Sierra Williams tied the game right after the Hearts had a 2-0 lead. Shataya White and Williams continued the early scoring for the home club and the very early lead with the Hearts called a time out with 6:08 remaining in the first half. Virginia’s Alyssa Mayrose hit a nice underhanded basket to trim the lead and Tayler Dodson scored to put the visitors on top, with 4:25 to go.  Ciarra Patterson, who played one of her best games of the season, scored, as did White to trim Virginia’s lead to 14-11. It was here in which the ...

by Thomas Leturgey with Arianna Rosemond The Steel City Queens hope that the second-half of the Women’s American Basketball Association (WABA) will bode better in Allentown. Ace Pippens and Clyde Mann’s team is 0-4 at the midway point, coming off of an injury-forced forfeit last weekend. The Queens were supposed to travel to DC to play the DC Cyclones, but they couldn’t court five players. That happens from time-to-time in the WABA and their brother league, the ABA.  This Saturday, the Queens return to A Giving Heart Community Center in Allentown and expect to play the 2-1 Virginia Hearts. The Dametra Lewis-owned club defeated DC last weekend, 73-60. That avenged their season-opening loss to the Cyclones, 102-66. The Hearts also defeated the Greensboro Kaos earlier this season. The Queens lost their first game to Greensboro by a definitive, early lead but nearly came back to win the rematch. The Queens have added to their ranks. Jasmine Myers, a 5’7” small forward/power forward fro...

 by Thomas Leturgey The Steel City Queens looked ready to redeem themselves against the Greensboro Kaos Sunday afternoon on their home court, but ultimately it didn't happen that way. Before the game at A Giving Heart Community Center, Assistant Coach Clyde Manns and the team talked about how they needed to slow down Shatrina Smalls' team. When they met in the Queens' season opener, the Kaos broke out early and amassed a 27-point lead that ended up being insurmountable. And the early strategy worked, with Sierra Williams scoring first and Shatayla White landing a well-time 3D opportunity to extend an early lead to 6-2. Tymesha Melton and Jolene Tamboue proved formidable and quickly tied the game up 6-6. The two teams traded buckets throughout much of the first half. Amber Cook tied the score at 10-10 with 3:41 to go in the first 10 minutes, but Katelyn Fischer hit a jumper to make it 12-10. Fischer was a last-minute addition to the starting lineup because of an ankle injury...

  The Steel City Queens huddle up Saturday afternoon. Photo courtesy of the team's Facebook page. By Thomas Leturgey The Steel City Queens simply couldn't get enough momentum in their home opening loss to the Richmond Road Runners Saturday afternoon, 77-64. The Roadrunners took a commanding lead, starting with the tip-off. The visiting team's Jasalyn Denkins started the scoring with a three pointer, and they never looked back. Shataya White was the first of the Queens to score, trimming the lead to 5-2. Unfortunately, the Queens would never be that close again. At the end of the first quarter, the Queens were losing 30-4. Brittany Jackson-Lowe turned in the other scoring shot in the first 10 minutes. The Ace Pippens and Clyde Manns-led squad had a better second-half. Ariana Sanders put the team on the board, and Katelyn Fischer hit a couple of free throws and nailed a three-pointer to get the team into double-digits. The Queens were down 32-11 with about seven minutes to go...