Trib HSSN June Madness quarterfinals: Amani Johnson, East Allegheny vs. Tabitha Bemis, Quaker Valley

By: Don Rebel
Tuesday, June 9, 2020 | 9:00 AM

Over the course of the next few weeks, June Madness will determine who fans believe is the WPIAL Athlete of the Century.

HSSN has put together two 32-player brackets, one for the boys and one for the girls, of WPIAL alums. Outside of a few exceptions, the field is made up of former district players who excelled in more than one sport.

Each weekday, June Madness will have one matchup each day with a little background info on each athlete found in a daily tale of the tape.

Starting at 9 a.m. Tuesday and running through 9 a.m. Wednesday, vote on the HSSN twitter page on the two athletes featured in this quarterfinals matchup.

Check the HSSN website at noon Wednesday for the matchup’s final results.

Here is the contest for the girls. Round 3, Day 4:

Amani Johnson vs. Tabitha Bemis is an east-against-west showdown between two athletes who may not have been big in stature, but they were huge in talent and versatility during their high school days.

Amani Johnson — East Allegheny Class of 2018

(Basketball, soccer, volleyball, softball, track and field)

• Defeated Shatori Walker-Kimbrough of Hopewell in the second round, 51-49%.

• Defeated Annie Houghton of Quaker Valley in the first round, 70-30%.

• 2018 Trib HSSN athlete of the year.

• 2018 Pa. Gatorade girls basketball player of the year finalist and two-time Trib HSSN Terrific 10 all-star.

• Finished her basketball career at No. 16 on the WPIAL scoring list with 2,345 points.

• Averaged nearly 29 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals a game her senior year in which the Wildcats finished 27-2 and reached the WPIAL finals and the PIAA semifinals.

• Scored 31 goals her senior year in soccer, giving her 77 goals in her career.

• Split her fall athletic season between soccer and volleyball for East Allegheny.

• After playing softball her first three years of high school, Johnson traded in her glove, bat and spikes for track shoes as she switched to track and field in the spring of her senior year.

• Playing college basketball at Kennesaw State.

Tabitha Bemis — Quaker Valley Class of 2010

(Track and field, gymnastics, diving)

• Defeated Meghan Klingenberg of Pine-Richland in the second round, 64-36%.

• Defeated Stephanie Madia of North Allegheny in the first round, 74-26%.

• Won 43 medals in three sports in her high school career.

• Won WPIAL gold in 2010 in long jump and 100-meter hurdles and finished second in the triple jump.

• A few weeks later, Bemis concluded her scholastic career with state gold in the long jump and 100-meter hurdles and silver in the triple jump at the PIAA championships.

• Finished in eighth place in the 2007 WPIAL championship as a freshman in her one and only year doing the pole vault.

• Started her high school career by winning gold in the WPIAL and PIAA all-around in gymnastics. However, an elbow injury forced her to give up the sport.

• As a senior, she competed for Quaker Valley in diving and finished second in the 2010 WPIAL championships and then came in sixth place in the PIAA diving finals.

• Was on the track and field team in college at Edinboro.

Amani Johnson – @amanijohnson_
????
Tabitha Bemis – @TabithaBemis

— TribLive HSSN (@TribLiveHSSN) June 9, 2020

Tags: East Allegheny, Quaker Valley