Sister takes over at East Allegheny
It’s become commonplace to hear about a Johnson player tearing up the basketball court at East Allegheny.
First came Amani, a 5foot-4 point guard, two-time Fabulous 5 selection and the Post-Gazette’s 2018 athlete of the year who is starting as a freshman at Kennesaw State and leading the team in assists (66).
Now comes her younger sister, Amaia.
The 5-foot-9 junior has started the past two years, with the Wildcats going 24-2 her freshman year, advancing to the WPIAL semifinals, and going 27-2 last season, making an appearance in the WPIAL Class 3A championship and making their first trip to the PIAA semifinals since 1999.
This year, though, with Amani gone, Amaia’s shouldering more responsibility than ever before as East Allegheny (8-4) aims for its fourth consecutive playoff berth.
“She’s averaging 25 a game,” East Allegheny coach Mike Osiecki said. “She’s doing something right.”
Amaia, who has had to transition from shooting guard to point guard this season, has been a force on offense and is second in the WPIAL with 25.4 points per game coming into the week. She trails only Megan Kallock of Greensburg Salem (26.5 ppg).
While Amani was considered the go-to scorer before, now Amaia has stepped into those shoes. As a captain on East Allegheny’s soccer and volleyball teams, she’s no stranger to taking on a leadership role.
“My team really needs me to score a lot so we can succeed and win games, so that pressure helps me, too,” said Amaia, who averaged about 12 ppg as a sophomore.
East Allegheny also has sophomore starter Abby Henderson averaging 15.5 ppg. With Amaia at 25.4, that means she and Henderson account for 40.9 of the Wildcats’ 52 ppg on offense. A challenge for Amaia moving forward is to get more players involved, continue learning how to read defenses and continue to develop as a passer and ballhandler.
“It’s been pretty different,” Amaia said of moving to point guard in Amani’s absence. “I wouldn’t say difficult, but I definitely struggled a little bit, challenging probably is what I would say. I’m not really used to having to bring the ball up, or dribbling, because I’ve never been a point guard before. But I’m just kind of now getting used to it and figuring out how to pass and score, because it’s kind of hard to do either one or the other.”
At 5-9, one of Amaia’s biggest strengths is her height. It gives her an edge over WPIAL players and will likely give her an edge on the recruiting scene, as well.
“She’s matching up on girls that are 5-3, 5-4,” Osiecki said. “She’s the bigger, stronger player than a lot of the girls guarding her.”
Having lost conference games to Deer Lakes and Shady Side, the Wildcats have a tough road ahead in WPIAL Class 3A Section 3. Although losing Amani is a hit, East Allegheny will keep aiming for the postseason and competitive section play.
“We still expect playoffs and everything… The goals and expectations, we knew this was going to be, I don’t want to say a down year, but kind of a maturing, growth, rebuilding type year,” Osiecki said. “But you always want to go in with the section hopes.
“We’re not in the playoffs by any stretch yet. We work hard every day. Our goal right now is to get into the playoffs, and that’s what it was from Day 1.”