Trib HSSN June Madness semifinal: Amani Johnson, East Allegheny vs. Rachel Martindale, North Allegheny

By: Don Rebel
Friday, June 19, 2020 | 9:00 AM

Over the course of the next week, 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 alumni. 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. Friday and running through 9 a.m. Saturday, vote on the HSSN twitter page on the two athletes featured in this semifinals contest.

Check the HSSN website at noon Saturday for the final results.

Here is the contest for the girls (Round 4, Day 4):

Amani Johnson vs. Rachel Martindale is a battle of the Alleghenies as East meets North. This is also a showdown between two former AAU basketball teammates who are one win away from “The Madness” finals.

Amani Johnson — East Allegheny Class of 2018

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

• Defeated Tabitha Bemis of Quaker Valley in the quarterfinals, 56-44%.

• 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.

Rachel Martindale — North Allegheny Class of 2019

(Basketball, softball)

• Defeated Nikki Doria of South Park in the quarterfinals, 54-46%.

• Defeated Hunter Robinson of Avonworth in the second round, 54-46%.

• Defeated Alison Riske of Peters Township in the first round, 70-30%.

• 2019 Trib HSSN female athlete of the year.

• 2019 Trib HSSN girls basketball Class 6A player of the year.

• Martindale scored 1,373 points, including 267 3-pointers, 270 assists and 205 steals in her scholastic basketball career.

• First-team all-state basketball honors in her junior and senior seasons.

• In her four years on the hardwood, North Allegheny was 105-11 with two WPIAL championships and one PIAA runner-up.

• Averaged more than 14 points per game in basketball and hit .480 in softball after suffering a torn ACL and meniscus in the district basketball finals her junior year.

• Playing college basketball at Akron.

Amani Johnson – @amanijohnson_
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Rachel Martindale – @rachmartindale4

— TribLive HSSN (@TribLiveHSSN) June 19, 2020

Tags: East Allegheny, North Allegheny