The Wildcat Crier
Amani Spectacular
Amani Johnson excels on and off the court
by Dominic Colwell
Amani Johnson’s twitter handle blew up nonstop on the night of February 10th.
That night, Amani scored 29 points, and her Lady Cats easily defeated rival South Allegheny. The win was significant because it cemented the team’s perfect regular season record of 22-0. Also, the 29 point masterpiece from Amani
clinched her the WPIAL scoring title.
It was another amazing game in what has been an amazing season for Amani.
Amani averaged 30.9 points per game, a 15 point increase since her freshman year. Besides being the WPIAL’s lead
scorer, Amani won Pittsburgh Athlete of the Week for the week of February 28 . Also, Amani will make her conference’s
All-Section team. Amani, a four sport varsity athlete, has made All-Section in soccer and softball as well. Her latest accomplishment is being named winner of KDKA’s Extra Effort award.
Throughout the school year, KDKA sports anchor Bob Pompeani honors student-athletes all around Western PA with
this award. The winners of this award excel on the court, in the classroom, and in the community.
This week, Pompeani and Allegheny Health Network will present Amani with the Extra Effort award and a grant for
the school.
On the court, Amani has solidified her nickname as “Mo-Buckets.” She is a lethal scorer of the basketball. She cuts
through the opposition’s zone defense, breaking their ankles and their hearts as she calmly lays the ball into the hoop, helping her team win the game. Amani has netted over 1,500 career points, making her the second leading scorer in school history, behind Brooke Stewart’s 3,055.
“I've heard a lot about Brooke Stewart. People tell me I remind them of her, but my goal is to just get better at the game,”
explains Amani. “3,055 points in 4 years is a lot. I scored 500 points in 2 months, but I just want to win more than anything.”
Head coach Mike Osiecki said, “Amani is an amazing player and I love coaching her. She gets smarter and better at the
game every time she steps on the floor.”
Amani has received offers from Youngstown State and Niagara University, both Division 1 schools.
In the classroom, Amani has been on the high honor roll in all five of her high school semesters. She maintains a 4.0
GPA and is tied for first in her class. She is the junior class treasurer, a member of the National Honor Society, and a member of The Future is Mine program.
“School comes first,” stated Amani. “I always make sure I get my homework done whether it is at
Editor-in-chief:
lunch or after a game or practice, before I fall asleep.”
Sarah Pais
Calculus teacher, Ms. Sippey, excitedly said that Amani is a “hard working student in class and a
smart student of the game on the court.”
Copy Editor:
“There's only one Amani Johnson,” said Sippey. “There have been great athletes here at EA in the
Abby Delisi
past but the spotlight is on her right now. She embraces it.”
For her community, Amani volunteers to help instruct youth basketball at Westinghouse, the gym
Managing Editor:
she
played
at growing up.
Dominic Colwell
Amani runs drills, showing kids how to properly dribble and pass the basketball.
Staff:
“My dad taught me everything I know about the game, and I want to pay it forward to the little
Zaire Bracey
kids who want to continue playing in the future,” said Amani. “I love seeing them develop. Maybe in 5
J’Aunna Cobb
-7 years East Allegheny will be even more of a basketball powerhouse.”
Tyler Getsy
Amani feels happy that the little kids look up to her. “Sometimes a few of the kids come to my
Erica Stophel
games and it's the cutest thing when they smile and wave at me,” she said. “I immediately get the bigDominic Toncich gest grin on my face and that just makes me play better because I feel that I have something to play
Trevor Ulichnie
for.”
On Saturday March 11 , as the whole community looks on, the Lady Cats will tip-off their first
Sponsor:
PIAA state playoff game in over 17 years.
Mrs. Chenot
th
th
Individual commitment to a group effort - that is what makes a team
work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.
Success is dependent on effort.
Effort will release its reward only after you refuse to quit.
Satisfaction lies in the
effort, not in the attainment.
Full effort is full victory.
Effort is important
Nothing in the
world is worth
having or worth
doing unless it
means effort,
pain, difficulty…
I have never in
my life
envied
a human being
who led an easy
life. I have envied
a great many people who led difficult lives and led
them well.
but knowing where
to put the effort is
what counts most.
Never give up
efforts, even if you
fail, the benefit
you derive is
experience.
People pretend
not to like
grapes when
the vines are
The level path is easy, but too high for
them to reach.
it will not bring you to
the mountaintop.
I've got a theory that if you give 100 percent all of the time,
somehow things will work out in the end.
CONGRATULATIONS, AMANI!