WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — Game plans are working for head coach Jerry Rickrode. And wins for the Wyoming Valley Clutch continue to pile up in the American Basketball Association. They haven't lost a game in the last 11 weeks, and now have placed themselves into the Northeast Regional title game versus the Steel City Yellow Jackets on Sunday at 3:30pm in Pittsburgh with a chance at a berth in the Final 8 in Baltimore.
"Yeah we had a couple of bumps early and then mid-January we had one and we had a really nice sit down and heart to heart thing and since then we have won for 11 straight weeks," said Jerry.
We'll the Clutch already with some awards this season. Center Peter Alexis for the 2nd time named 1st team all ABA. And that is out of 175 teams that play in this league so quite an honor for the 7 footer.
"Absolutely I think that we are showcasing the level of basketball that the Wyoming Valley can really put out there. We are all high level guys from a bunch of different eras. And we are coming together and we are one of the last 16 teams in the nation in this league left," said Peter.
"We are very fortunate to have Pete on our team he has just been a dominating force for our team. But outside of the basketball he is a huge part of our organization. He helps out with our kids and just doing great things with our community," said Dave.
Steel City is long and athletic with experienced European professional players on their squad, and a mainstay in the ABA the last dozen years.
"We are going to try and exploit some of the mismatches inside. Other than that we just have to go and play and have a descent night,' again said Jerry.
"We're leaving my Mom and I are going to leave pretty early on Saturday kind of get out there and relax a little bit and get some dinner. I have a road routine at this point. I know what I have to do the night before get some rest and I like that fact that the game is a little earlier so I am not sitting there all day. So I definitely I think that I am ready. I think that our team is ready. So I am ready to get out there and play," again said Peter.
Steve Lloyd Newswatch 16 sports Luzerne County.