The Steel City Yellow Jackets and Pittsburgh Steel Wheelers participated in the first annual charity game on Saturday night at the neighborhood academy. The game was played to help raise awareness of spinal cord injuries and proceeds from the game benefited the Pittsburgh Steel Wheelers.
It was a fun night of basketball action at the Neighborhood Academy on Saturday night as the Steel City Yellow Jackets took on the Pittsburgh Steel Wheelers in their first annual charity game. The game was played to help raise awareness of spinal cord injuries and proceeds from the game benefited the Pittsburgh Steel Wheelers and their mission to make athletics accessible to everyone in the western Pennsylvania region.
Normally, the Steel City Yellow Jackets are running up and down the court in a fast-paced, high-scoring style offense. However, today they had to learn how to play the game while sitting down as each player competed in a wheel chair. The odds were not in the Yellow Jacket's favor from the beginning as the Steel Wheelers were the number 11 ranked team in the country in the National Wheel Chair Basketball Association's Division III.
Right from the get go the Yellow Jackets found themselves in a hole. As the players were trying to figure out how to maneuver their wheelchairs, the Steel Wheelers were running up and down the court scoring point after point and they jumped out to an early 21-0 lead. The onslaught would continue as at half time the score sat at 36-0 Steel Wheelers.
The Yellow Jackets tried everything they could to put points up, but the Steel Wheelers had complete control of this ball game. At the break Stics Scott lead the team in scoring with 10 points followed by Sarah Henzel, 6 points, and Chris Milo, 4 points. The Steel City Yellow Jackets were still scoreless and had to call on their secret weapon in head coach Ace Pippens. Pippens was a former member of the Steel Wheelers and would try to help the Yellow Jackets come back in this one.
At half time Pippens and Steel Wheelers head coach Chris Meilo worked out a deal in which the teams would flip scores and the Steel Wheelers would try to beat the 36 points they scored in the first half. With the lead, and a new found spirit, the Yellow Jackets would try once again to put points up on the board.
The Yellow Jackets would score their first points of the day in the third quarter when Gil Cummings came through and hit a two-point shot to put the Yellow Jackets on the board. Antonio Reddic would add a free throw to make the unofficial score after three quarters 54-3. Things would get slightly better in the fourth quarter as Luke Kochka hit a three-pointer and Ace Pippens added a point of his own.
However, the Steel Wheelers would still rule the day as the final score was Steel Wheelers 74 and the Steel City Yellow Jackets 7. Luke Kochka would be the leading scorer with a whopping three points on the night. The other scorers for the Yellow Jackets were Gil Cummings, 2 points, and Ace Pippens and Antonio Reddic, 1 point each. For the Steel Wheelers it would be Stics Scott leading the way with 20 points on the night followed by Jesse Robinson, 13 points, and Jeremy Bittner, 12 points.
The game was a lopsided one, but more important than the game was the spirit of having fun and giving back in the process. The Steel City Yellow Jackets and Pittsburgh Steel Wheelers raised awareness about spinal cord injuries and were able to give back to the Pittsburgh Steel Wheelers raising money to help the game of basketball become more accessible to people with disabilities in the Western Pennsylvania Region.
The Steel City Yellow Jackets will wrap up their winter break in two weeks as they come back to the court January 13th when they take on the Baltimore Hawks at the Neighborhood Academy. Games between Pittsburgh and Baltimore are always exciting and the Yellow Jackets and Hawks will look to keep that rivalry alive. Adult tickets cost ten dollars and student tickets cost five dollars. The Yellow Jackets are looking to make a third straight playoff run and they need you to come out and catch the buzz.
