Yellow Jackets Continue to Rise In Power Rankings Riding Win Streak

The Steel City Yellow Jackets are currently riding a four game winning streak and are riding that streak right up the American Basketball Association power rankings. They are up one spot from last week's rankings as they sit as the number 22 team in the country going into a big weekend against two top 25 opponents.

As the 2016/2017 American Basketball Association regular season is beginning to come to a close, the Steel City Yellow Jackets are making a final push for a playoff spot as they try to make it for the third year in a row. They have made a big push to do just that lately as they have won four straight contests sweeping their games in each of the last two weekends.

Their hard work has paid off as of late as they are up one spot to the number 22 team in the country in this week's American Basketball Association Power Rankings after picking up two more wins at home against the Salisbury Bulldogs and the West Virginia Warlocks. It was a rather odd weekend for the Yellow Jackets in terms of game play because each of the teams they faced were short on players and it allowed the Yellow Jackets to see just how deep their bench was as they got a lot of work over the weekend.

It all started with a 135-117 win over the Salisbury Bulldogs last Friday night at the Neighborhood Academy. There were travel problems for the Bulldogs as they showed up late for the game, and they only had three players. The Yellow Jackets had to give them four players just to play the game. However, the Yellow Jackets were able to fight against the adversity picking up the victory and improving to 10-7 on the season. It was a combined offensive effort for the Yellow Jackets as eight of their 11 active players would score in double digits on the night with BillyDee Williams leading the effort with 26 points.

Then on Saturday, the Yellow Jackets invited the West Virginia Warlocks into the Neighborhood Academy as they looked to keep their winning streak alive. They were able to do just that as they picked up a 140-88 win. It was a similar situation to the night before where the Warlocks only had five players for the game, but the Yellow Jackets kept all of their players this time for the victory. Once again every Yellow Jacket got to play in this contest and everyone got on the scoreboard. Gilmore Cummings would be the leader in scoring with 22 points.

The key to the Yellow Jackets four game winning streak has been their offensive production. Over the last four games they have scored 135 or more points in every game, including scoring a season high 153 points against the Imperial National Crusaders two weeks ago. Not only has this been a good sign for this season, but for many seasons to come as the Yellow Jackets rookies have shown their worth over the last several weeks as well. The Yellow Jackets have used a spread out offensive attack all season long, but it has been especially prominent over the last two weeks.

Head Coach Ace Pippens set a goal in the beginning of the season to hold the opposition under 100 points in a game. Well, the Yellow Jackets did that last time out holding the opposition to a team low 88 points. It was the second time they have completed that feat this season, the first time was in a 95-93 loss to the Prince George's Valor. The defensive game is getting better and better as the season progresses, and if the Yellow Jackets want to make a deep playoff run it will be key to the Yellow Jackets success.

The Yellow Jackets have enjoyed recent success, but they have perhaps their toughest test of the season coming up this weekend. They will face off against two teams that are currently ranked in the top ten in the country. It starts on Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. at the Neighborhood Academy when they take on the number nine team in the country, the Richmond Elite. Then they will turn around and take on the number one team in the country, the DMV Warriors, on the road on Sunday. These two games are crucial for the Yellow Jackets on this late season push.

Joining the Warriors and Elite in the top ten are some familiar faces including the Windy City Groove and the Chicago Fury. The big change of the week is the South Florida Gold falling four places to the number 6 team in the country. The rest of the top ten looks like this:

       1. DMV Warriors (13-0)

       2. Chicago Fury (13-2)

       3. Windy City Groove (10-0)

       4. Austin Bats (12-1)

       5. Salina Saints (11-0)

       6. South Florida Gold (16-3)

       7. Orlando Waves (12-2)

       8. Jacksonville Giants (9-2)

       9. Richmond Elite (9-1)

       10. Atlantic Coast Cardinals (9-1)

The Yellow Jackets will be back on the court Saturday night when they take on the Richmond Elite at the Neighborhood Academy at 8:30 p.m. Tickets will be ten dollars for adults and five dollars for students. It is the second to last home game of the regular season so now is the time to come on out and Catch the Buzz as they close out their 2016/2017 regular season.

Big Weekend Puts the Yellow Jackets Up to Number 23 In the Country

The Steel City Yellow Jackets completed a sweep of their games over the weekend and as a result they were able to move up to the number 23 team in the country with a record of 9-7. They are up two spots from last week's rankings and are looking to make a final late season push for the American Basketball Association playoffs.

As the American Basketball Association season winds down the Steel City Yellow Jackets are making a last second push for the ABA playoffs. They helped out their cause this weekend with two big wins as they defeated the Imperial National Crusaders 153-116 and then came back and defeated the WNY Thundersnow by the score of  135-107. The two wins put their record to 9-7 on the season and gave them momentum heading into two big home games this weekend.

The Yellow Jackets came into the 2016/2017 season ranked as the number 23 team in the country in the American Basketball Association pre-season power rankings and that is where they currently sit this season up two spots from their number 25 ranking last week. The Yellow Jackets have made the playoffs in each of the last two seasons and are looking to make it for the third season in a row and compete for the American Basketball Association championship.

Both of the wins over the weekend were team wins as the Yellow Jackets used everyone on the team in both games. On January 28th they put up a season high 153 points and received contributions from everyone on the team against the Imperial National Crusaders. Antonio Reddic would lead the crew in this one with a season high 40 points on the night and eight of the eleven available Yellow Jackets players would score in double digits on the night. The collective team effort moved the Yellow Jackets to 8-7 as they set out on the road to try and improve upon their 2-4 road record.

With a final score of 135-107, they would do just that in Niagara Falls, New York as they took care of the WNY Thundersnow. It was another team effort in which the Yellow Jackets would get big contributions from their bench. Juan Franklin lead the team in scoring with 26 points off the bench and four other Yellow Jackets would finish in double digits on the day. Reddic's streak of scoring 30 or more points in a game came to an end, but the Yellow Jackets claimed their second game in a row and improved their record to 9-7 on the year.

The two wins came as a team effort and the most impressive thing was the Yellow Jackets were down two of their top three scorers as Lawrence Baker and Gilmore Cummings both were not in either game. It showed just how deep this Jackets team really is and sets them up for success not only down the stretch but for next season and beyond. Coach Ace has a lot of experience coaching teams who have had success and his motivation has helped his guys fight against adversity and pick up two much needed wins.

However, the Yellow Jackets still have a lot of work to do coming down the stretch as they have four more home games left at the Neighborhood Academy, where they have played very well this season with a record of 6-3, and four road games, where they are 3-4. This team has heart and determination and that is what will help to lead them right to another playoff run in 2016/2017.

Once again the top of the ABA power rankings features the undefeated DMV Warriors who sit at 12-0 so far on the season and the South Florida Gold who once again occupy the second place spot at 15-2. The rest of the top 10 in the power rankings looks like this:

       1. DMV Warriors (12-0)
       2. South Florida Gold (15-2)
       3. Windy City Groove (10-0)
       4. Orlando Waves (12-2)
       5. Salina Saints (10-0)
       6. Austin Bats (12-1)
       7. Chicago Fury (12-2)
       8. Jacksonville Giants (8-2)
       9. Chicago Stream (9-2)
       10. Atlanta Coast Cardinals (8-1)

The Steel City Yellow Jackets will take on the West Michigan Lake Hawks this weekend as they look to build on their recent success. The game will be played Saturday February 4th at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are ten dollars for adults and five dollars for students.With only four games left it's time for Pittsburgh to rally together and come on out and Catch the Buzz.

Jackets Up To Number 23 After Split Weekend

 

In this week's addition of the American Basketball Association Power Rankings, the Steel City Yellow Jackets have moved up to the number 23 spot on the list after a weekend in which they split their contests. They defeated the Baltimore Hawks 128-119 on Friday night and fell to the Richmond Elite 118-98 on Saturday night.

The week nine addition of the American Basketball Association Power Rankings has been released and the Steel City Yellow Jackets moved up two spots from the number 25 team in the country to the number 23 team in the country. The Yellow Jackets ended up splitting their contests this weekend and improved to 7-6 on the season, with a record of 5-3 at the Neighborhood Academy and a record of 2-3 on the road.

The Yellow Jackets would end up splitting their contests over the weekend as they fell to the Baltimore Hawks on Friday night by the score of 128-119, however, they fell to the Richmond Elite the very next day 118-98. Antonio Reddic was the leading scorer in both games as he continues his offensive tear scoring 30 or more points in six straight contests. Reddic is the leading scorer for the Yellow Jackets this season with 327 points so far in the teams 13 games.

Friday night saw the Yellow Jackets locked in an offensive battle with the Baltimore Hawks all the way to the end. The Hawks jumped out to an early lead, however, the Yellow Jackets would fight back from being down 37-30 to take a 67-60 half time lead. The Jackets would then hold onto that lead for the rest of the day. The closest the Hawks would come to getting back in this game was when they cut the Jackets lead to 117-107 with under four minutes to go. However, the Yellow Jackets would pull away late and come out on top 128-119.

It was a break-out game for one of the newest Yellow Jackets, Dre Anthony, as he scored a season high 23 points including two big three point shots that helped his team secure the victory. Anthony and fellow newcomer BillyDee Williams have been a welcome addition to the Yellow Jackets lineup. Williams scored in double digits in his second contest as a Yellow Jackets and was one of the defensive stars of the game on Friday night as the big man under the hoop.

Saturday night, the Yellow Jackets were on the road as they faced off against the Richmond Elite looking for a sweep of their weekend games. Things looked like they were going the Yellow Jackets way from the get go as they jumped out to an early 32-25 lead and took a 56-51 lead into half time. However, the Jackets would be unable to hold on as the Elite increased their scoring total in every quarter, and their 37 point fourth quarter was enough to put the Yellow Jackets away and hand them a 118-98 loss.

It was Reddic once again who would lead the crew with 30 points on the night keeping his 30 points or more streak going. The Yellow Jackets just didnt have enough in the tank to finish this one out and their fast start would go for not as they only mustered 18 points in the fourth quarter that ultimately lead to their downfall.

The Yellow Jackets have fought back into the American Basketball Association power rankings after not being featured two weeks ago. They came in as the number 25 team in the country last week and moved up two places in this week's addition of the ABA lower rankings. The Jackets continue to get better and better each week as they fight for that all important third straight trip the the American Basketball Association playoff tournament.

The top of the ABA Power Rankings stays pretty much the same with the DMV Warriors being number one with their undefeated record. As it stands now the top 10 looks like this:

            1. DMV Warriors (9-0)
            2. South Florida Gold (13-2)
            3. Orlando Waves (11-2)
            4. Kentucky Enforcers (10-1)
            5. Windy City Groove (8-0)  
            6. Arizona Wildcats (8-1)    
            7. Salina Saints (7-0)  
            8. Austin Bats (7-1)
            9. Chicago Fury (8-2)        
            10. Orange County Novastars (9-3)

The Steel City Yellow Jackets will once again look to improve their standing in the ABA top 25 power rankings this week when they go on the road to take on the Prince George's Valor on Saturday January 21st. Antonio Reddic, Gilmore Cummings, Lawrence Baker, and the rest of the Steel City Yellow Jackets will be looking to pick up their eighth victory of the year and will continue to compete for that elusive American Basketball Association Title.