Jan 9, 2017 2 min read

CHARLEROI – Amani Johnson scored 35 points to lead undefeated East Allegheny to a 65-50 win in Section 2-AAA at Charleroi Monday night.

Both teams entered the showdown undefeated in section play.

“We have been preparing for this game for the last week and a half by watching film,” said East Allegheny coach Mike Osiecki.

“They are a well-built team that plays a team game and an advantage we had was that we made them play our game.”

Charleroi coach Kevin Lee knew what did his team in.

“We turned the ball over too much and we weren’t hitting shots,” he said. “You can’t beat good teams like that.”

Sierra Short paced three Cougars in double figures with 16 points while Kaitlyn Riley adding 13 points and Maria Claybaugh scoring 11 while Johnson, a junior who has eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau, was the lone Wildcat to hit double figures.

Both teams started out sluggish, going through a feeling out process, and the Wildcats (4-0, 11-0) held a 15-9 lead after the first quarter.

East Allegheny opened a nine-point lead halfway through the second quarter, but Charleroi (3-1, 8-3) consistently got to the foul line in the quarter and went nine of 12 to trim the deficit to three points, 27-24, at the half.

Charleroi could have held a lead but it could not buy a basket as it missed several layups and open jumpers.

“I was shocked (to be down 3 1/2) because I didn’t think we could play any worse offensively,” said Lee. “I thought it was important to come out fast in the second half but we kind of lost our poise.”

East Allegheny blew the game open to start the second half, scoring the first 12 points of the third quarter. Charleroi’s offensive struggles continued as it missed its first eight shots of the second half.

Charleroi scored the last four points of the quarter to make the score 49-32 heading into the final frame, but it got no closer than 12 points the rest of the way.