The Steel City Yellow Jackets dropped another heart breaker as they fell to the Prince George Valor on Saturday by the score of 95-93. The Jackets had a chance late, but a failed three point attempt by Lawrence Baker sealed the Yellow Jackets fate.
After almost coming back last week against the number three team in the country, the Yellow Jackets were back at it again as they took on the Prince George Valor Saturday at The Neighborhood Academy. It came down to the last second once again and unfortunately the Yellow Jackets came up just short once again as they fell 95-93 when Lawrence Baker missed a three point attempt at the buzzer that ended the game.
The Yellow Jackets retained possession with six seconds remaining on the game clock down by just two points in the game. The Valor were in a full court press making it tough for the Jackets to move the ball up the court. Eventually, Gil Cummings got the ball into the offensive zone and fed Baker the ball with two seconds left. Baker shot a 25 footer but had it bounce off the rim and fall to the court.
This was another game in which the Yellow Jackets had to fight back from being down by a considerable margin. The Prince George Valor took control of this game early on as before the first whistle even blew they got two free throws after a pre-game foul. Chris Lee came to the line and made both of his shots to start the Valor with a 2-0 lead.
The Valor would continue that lead through the first quarter and would come out of that quarter leading by the score of 36-28. Lawrence Baker hit two three point shots to lead the Jackets in the quarter with eight points. However, Winston Veney lead the way for the Valor with 12 points and Jamahl Brown added nine points of his own.
This would be a very low scoring game throughout as both defenses played tough, physical, in your face defense and held the opponent in check. The second quarter featured the Valor pulling out to their biggest lead of the night as they would hold the Jackets to just 18 points in the second quarter of play. The Valor jumped out to a 20 point lead and would go into half time up by the score of 66-46.
Brown and Veney were the stars of the first half for the Valor as they scored 19 and 14 points respectively. Ed Dyson added seven points of his own to round out the top three for the Valor. The Yellow Jackets were lead by Baker's eight points in the contest with Gil Cummings, Marcus Smith, and Johnathan Logan scoring seven points each. Coach Ace rallied his troops in the locker room as the Jackets were better than ever when they came out for the second half.
Offensively, Antonio Reddic paced the Jackets after having scored only two points in the first half. He came out and scored eight points in the third quarter to bring the Yellow Jackets right back into this ball game. Logan also came out of the locker room with a hot hand as he hit two big three pointers to pace the Yellow Jackets offense.
Defensively, Isaiah Prince came off the bench and played almost impenetrable defense. He got in the face of the Valor shooters and caused multiple turnovers on the evening. Prince also added a big three point shot in the third quarter and was an essential part of bringing the Yellow Jackets back in this game.
The Jackets were able to score 31 points in the third quarter compared to the Valor's 21 to pull back into the game cutting the lead in half as the Valor now lead 87-77. The energy in The Neighborhood Academy was brought up as the Yellow Jackets crept closer and closer to coming back in the game. The Yellow Jackets saw their opportunity last week but didn't come through and they did not want a repeat in this game.
Reddic continued his strong second half in the fourth quarter putting up 14 more points. However, it was Isaiah Prince and the Jackets defense that kept the game close as they caused many bad shots that would not fall in the net. This allowed the Jackets to pull within two points of the Valor late in the ball game. The stage was set, the shot was taken, but unfortunately for the Yellow Jackets their hopes of winning the game just bounced off the rim and they had to settle for the 95-93 loss dropping their record to 3-3 on the season.
Reddic lead the Yellow Jackets offensively on this night scoring 22 points in the contest. He was joined in double digits by Lawrence Baker, 15, Johnathan Logan, 13, and Isaiah Prince, 10. For the Valor Jamahl Brown lead the way with 24 points and he was helped by Winston Veney's 16 points on the evening. This will be another tough pill for the Jackets to swallow, but they will bounce back like they always do better than ever.
Steel City Yellow Jackets Player of the Game: Isaiah Prince
Defense was key to the Yellow Jackets comeback on this night and Isaiah Prince provided just that for the Yellow Jackets throughout the second half. He knocked down several shots and caused turnovers that allowed the Yellow Jackets to control the ball in their territory. He also finished in double digits in scoring finishing with 10 points on the night including a three point shot in the third quarter of play. Prince was the reason the Yellow Jackets were able to come back on this night and that crowns him player of the game.
Up Next:
The Yellow Jackets will have a quick turnaround as they take on the Reading Wizards Sunday night at 5:30 p.m. in Reading Pennsylvania. It will be the Yellow Jackets first time away from the firendly confines of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. The Yellow Jackets will be looking to get back on track as they have dropped each of their last two games to fall to 3-3 on the season. This team will dust off its boots and get back to work as they always do. Be ready to catch the buzz.
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