The Steel City Yellow Jackets and members of the ABA Executive Committee celebrate after the 123-118 victory.
by Thomas Leturgey
After Saturday Night’s 123-118 win over the Number One Ranked Team Trouble, Pittsburgh’s Steel City Yellow Jackets can now be called American Basketball Association (ABA) Champions.
The contest at the John and Joanne Phelps Gymnasium on the St. Frances Academy campus in Baltimore was a hard-fought contest that saw the Yellow Jackets take a substantial lead over a slow-to-get-started Stockton, California team, and then witness that lead slip away. But as Coach Ace Pippens’ team has done all season…they pulled it out in the final seconds in a highly-emotional affair.
Co-Captain Tone Reddic, Sr. got the game off to a promising start with the first jumper of the evening. Ultimate tournament MVP Kenny Holmes hit a 3D shot that added three points and Reddic posted two more to make it a quick 7-0 lead. Rebounding was paramount for the Pittsburgh squad early as that kept the Team Trouble out of sorts. Each team took different approaches to the final game following two emotional wins Friday night. Yellow Jackets starting Center Justin Hamilton, who had been rusty in the Final 8 due to missing a few games, was at the free throw line nearly two hours before tip off. The rest of the team was not terribly far behind and warming up. Meanwhile, a few players for Team Trouble arrived at 6:19 for a 6:45 tip-off.
Team Trouble’s Sam Bauer hit a 3D jumper to make it 11-6, but Holmes immediately answered with three of his own. Then, Pittsburgh’s Tim Jackson came off of the bench and started to get hot. He hit 8 unanswered points and the advantage stretched to 25-12 with 4:18 to go in the game. Brandon Johnson scored to make it 30-12. At this point, Team Trouble, who squeaked by their semi-final game against the host Baltimore Hawks, were back on their heels. But, Team Trouble’s Keymonte “Pee Wee” Gardner, who was in foul trouble early, came on and helped trim a lead. The Yellow Jackets were ahead 38-21 at the end of the first quarter.
Holmes and Reddic came on strong in the opening moments of the second quarter–with Reddic hitting a crutial 3D four-pointer, and the Yellow Jackets lead expanded to 52-29 with 7:50 to go in the half.
Gardner and Derrick Wofford, Jr. kept Team Trouble in the game, and showed a warning of things to come in the second half. Gardner hit a 3D triple and Wofford added a bucket to trim the lead to 20. The two guards continued to go toe-to-toe with Tim Jackson and Brandon Johnson throughout the final moments of the half. Confusion with officiating, which had caused a stir in both semi-final games Friday, didn’t have much issue in the final. There was a confusing double-technical foul forced on each team in the final seconds, but the Yellow Jackets maintained a 73-52 cushion with 24 minutes to play.
The third quarter began with the Pacific Division Champion’s Lewis Stallworth, Christian Williams, and Josh Allen making noise. The Top-Ranked team, which looked moribund at times in the first quarter, started to play like the team in which their team name was earned. Sam Bauer hit a jumper to snip the Yellow Jacket’s lead to just nine. Tim Jackson answered, but Josh Allen answered with four points, including an emphatic dunk that energized the Team Trouble bench and fans. Wofford and Stallworth exploded with offense and cut the Jackets’ lead to 81-78 with 3:30 to go in the quarter.
At this time, the Yellow Jackets lost turnovers, missed shots and were up against aggressive play from Team Trouble.
Claude Scott, Jr. and Tim Jackson (with a spirited three-pointer) pushed the lead back to 10. Williams and Dominique Barnes each hit jumpers from behind the line, but Scott hit free throws when fouled and scored an impressive dunk as time ran out in the third. The Yellow Jackets were up 96-86.
Brandon Johnson scored five unanswered points as the quarter began and added another shot to make it 104-91 with 10:21 to go. After a Claude Scott dunk, Team Trouble, and specifically Lewis Stallworth and Sam Bauer, were inspired. Bauer hit a four-point 3D to quickly get back into the game, 106-101 with about 7:50 to go. Reddic and Holmes worked to stretch the lead to 113-101.
Sensing that time was running out, Team Trouble doubled down. Bauer, Allen and Stallworth tightened the night and it was 113-112 with 3:45 to go. With 2:51 to go in the season, Josh Allen put Team Trouble on top, 115-113. But Scott immediately tied the game at 115. And Brandon Johnson hit a three-pointer 118-115.
With passions running at an all-tournament high, a scrum broke out and Reddic hit the hardwood with a heavy thud. Reddic, always a full-bore player, had performed in this tournament with all-out purpose. As a result, he hit hard below the basket on several occasions, and each time it took the veteran longer to get up.
Johnson connected on another three-pointer with 55 seconds remaining to make it 121-115. Gardner and Wofford did their best to stay competitive down the stretch, but Holmes hit two important free throws to cement the team’s first-ever National Championship victory, 123-118.
Post-game, Kenny Holmes was named Tournament MVP by ABA Executive Committee Member Marsha Blount and members of the Yellow Jackets dumped a cooler of ice water on Coach Ace Pippens. In a touching moment, Pippens, who was paralyzed by a gunshot 28 years ago, was raised out of his wheelchair and embraced by Assistant Coach Clyde Manns. It’s the team’s first ABA National Championship in its eight-year existence. The team was handed celebratory cigars and took turns holding the championship plaque.
Lewis Stallworth led Team Trouble with 23 points, Christian Williams had 21 and Derrick Wofford, Jr. added 20. Josh Allen and Pee Wee Gardner each had 14. Sam Bauer added 13 and Treyvion Merriweather 7.
Kenny Holmes guided the Yellow Jackets with 28 points, Brandon Johnson scored 23, Claude Scott, Jr. added 20, Tim Jackson 19 and Tone Reddic, Sr. 15. Co-Captain Gilmore Cummings posted 8, Jason Arrington, Sr. scored 7 and James Jackson 4.
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