The Steel City Yellow Jackets were back in action on Saturday night as they took on the Imperial National Crusaders at the Neighborhood Academy after dropping their game last weekend. They came back in a big way as they rolled over the Crusaders 153-116 improving to 8-7 on the year.
After taking a loss last week to the Prince George's Valor, the Steel City Yellow Jackets were sitting at 7-7 finding themselves at the .500 mark for the third time this season. They had to pick up a big win to get some momentum on their side and to help improve their record as they head out on the road once again on Sunday.
They would get that much needed win in a big way as they steam rolled the Imperial National Crusaders by the final score of 153-116. The Yellow Jackets were without two of their top three scorers in this game as both Lawrence Baker and Gil Cummings were not available, but they got many contributions from their bench and the biggest game of the year by Antonio Reddic to power them to the victory.
This would be a high scoring affair from the get go as both teams came out firing in the first quarter. Dre Anthony was the one leading the Yellow Jackets early on as he had a team high 16 points in the first quarter alone. However, his efforts would not be enough to give the Yellow Jackets an early lead as the Crusaders were lead by Larry Woody, who had 19 points in the first quarter, to give the Crusaders a 44-38 lead.
Then, it was the Yellow Jackets turn to break out as they put together what would be their best offensive quarter of the season scoring 46 points.The Defense stepped up as well as they held the opposition to just 26 points and recorded multiple takeaways. On the offensive side, eight of the eleven available players to the Yellow Jackets would score in the quarter, led by Antonio Reddic's 13 point effort, and the Yellow Jackets would go into the locker room on the winning edge of the scoreboard as it was 84-68.
Reddic would lead the way for the Yellow Jackets at half-time as he racked up 21 points on the night as he continues to lead the Yellow Jackets offensively week in and week out. He was followed by Dre Anthony, 18 points, and Juan Franklin, 10 points. For the Crusaders it would be Larry Woody leading the way after his big fourth quarter with 22 points. He would be followed by Moses Domby, 13 points, and Jaleel Dillard, 12 points.
The offense would not slow down one bit coming out of half-time as they would put up 39 points in the third quarter, and the defense only got better holding the opposition to only 22 in the quarter. Reddic would take control of this game as he surpassed the 30 point mark in the third quarter putting up 11 points and playing great defense as well.
The end of the third quarter was an exciting sequence as Reddic went up for a dunk, then it was rebounded and another shot was made by Billy Dee Williams, and finally it was rebounded again and Jason Arrington would finish the scoring at the buzzer with another shot. It would give the Yellow Jackets a total of nine points in the span of ten seconds and all but took the wind out of the Crusader's sails as the Yellow Jackets would lead 123-92.
The fourth quarter would be more of the same as the Yellow Jackets continued to roll over the Crusaders and unloaded their bench. Out of their bench, the Yellow Jackets would get four guys in double digits as Jason Arrington had 13 points, Juan Franklin had 12, Luke Kochka had 11, and BillyDee Williams had 10. The offense never stopped coming for the Yellow Jackets as they scored 30 points in the quarter on their way to a 153-116 victory.
Antonio Reddic would eclipse his season high in scoring on the season as he put up 40 points on the night. He was one of eight Yellow Jackets to score in double digits and was followed by Dre Anthony, 21 points, and Johnathan Logan, 16 points. The Crusaders were lead by Larry Woody, 33 points, Jaleel Dillard, 17 points, and Shyler Ringgold, 14 points.
The 153 points was a season high for the Yellow Jackets and the most impressive thing was they were without two of their top scorers, Lawrence Baker and Gil Cummings. Everyone on the Yellow Jackets team got in the game and the Jackets saw a season high eight players score in double digits and 10 of the 11 got on the board showing a lot of promise for the Yellow Jackets moving forward in the season.
Steel City Player of the Game: Johnathan Logan
This was a really tough decision with so many Yellow Jackets playing well in this game, but the Steel City Player of the Game award goes to Johnathan Logan. Logan tied his season high scoring 16 points on the night including four big three point shots. Logan has been in the Yellow Jackets starting five all season long and has played very well from beyond the arc. He stepped up defensively today as well and caused several turnovers to lead the Yellow Jackets to victory.
Up Next:
The Steel City Yellow Jackets are back in action Sunday night when they travel to Niagara Falls, New York to take on the WNY Thundersnow. The road has not been a kind place for the Yellow Jackets this season as they are currently 2-4 on the road and are looking to improve upon that Sunday afternoon. You can follow on Facebook at Steel City Yellow Jackets and be sure to Catch the Buzz.
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