Prep spotlight: Amani Hamilton signs with SSU; Lyric Olson shines at meet of track champions

Dennis Knight, Savannah Morning News
·4 min read

Amani Hamilton of Johnson High has established herself as one of the top basketball players in Savannah in her prep career with the Atom Smashers, and the senior will be staying close to home for college as she signed with Savannah State on Friday.

"I wanted to wear the same colors," Hamilton said of the purple and orange worn by the Johnson and SSU teams. "And I wanted to stay close to home. Savannah State has a great team, and I want to help them accomplish things they didn't do last year."

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Amani Hamilton, center, of Johnson High School signed to play basketball at Savannah State.
Amani Hamilton, center, of Johnson High School signed to play basketball at Savannah State.

The 6-foot-1 Hamilton helped lead Johnson to the GHSA Region 3-3A title with just six players on the squad as she averaged 22.2 points, 11.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 3.3 blocks and 2.5 steals per game.

"It's been a great experience coaching Amani because of her work ethic, and she's a student of the game," said E'Lona Levett, who took over as the Johnson head coach after seven years as an assistant. "She was a great leader and always had my back and did anything that was asked of her. Savannah State is getting a high-caliber player."

Olson, Byrd excel at meet of champions

Lyric OIson of Savannah Arts Academy and Maggie Byrd of Savannah Christian represented the Hostess City well at the Wingfoot Night of Champions in Atlanta on Saturday.

The track meet features state champions from across enrollment classifications in Georgia. Olson, a junior, who won the Class 3A 800-meter title, ran another stellar race as she took on four other GHSA state champions.

Lyric Olson of Savannah Arts won the 800 meters at the Wingfoot Race of Champions.
Lyric Olson of Savannah Arts won the 800 meters at the Wingfoot Race of Champions.

She had a substantial lead after one lap and ran a strong final 400 meters to close things out with a time of 2 minutes, 09.49 seconds — a personal best and the top mark posted by any female runner in Georgia this year.

"My strategy changed for this race from the state finals last week because a lot of the girls I was going against like to get out in front," Olson said. "I let the race just happen on the first lap and then wanted to kick in the last 200 meters.

"I wanted to run around 2:10, so this gave me a lot of confidence. I wanted to get the best time in Georgia this year. I was super proud that I got it."

Maggie Byrd of Savannah Christian took second in the high jump at the Wingfoot Night of Champions in Atlanta Saturday.
Maggie Byrd of Savannah Christian took second in the high jump at the Wingfoot Night of Champions in Atlanta Saturday.

Byrd, a junior who won the Class A Private high jump for the second year in a row with a leap of 5 feet, 4 inches, improved to 5-6 at the Wingfoot meet, finishing second in a stacked field led by Griffin's Zy Thompson, who cleared 5-7. Byrd's personal best of 5-7 came April 14 at a meet in Savannah.

Okumu signs with Georgia Southern

Amina Okumu of Savannah Country Day isn't the biggest player on the soccer pitch, but the senior is usually the fastest — and has an IQ for the sport that is off the charts.

On Monday, the standout forward set her future in motion when she signed to play college soccer at Georgia Southern.

Amina Okumu of the Savannah Country Day girls soccer team.
Amina Okumu of the Savannah Country Day girls soccer team.

"Her passion for the sport and intensity are immediately evident when you see her play for the first time," SCD coach David Hooker said.

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Okumu had 26 goals and five assists in just 12 games this season for the Hornets, who finished second in Region 3-A Private and advanced to the second round of the playoffs

"She's feisty, tenacious and has the work ethic to match her talent," Hooker said. "She is an inspirational leader and she's going to be exceptional at Georgia Southern."

Islands duo signs

Mitchell Singletary and Cooper Bachman of the Islands teamed up as standout linebackers on the Sharks football team — and each signed with colleges in a different sport on Friday.

Singletary, also a standout catcher in baseball, signed with USC-Beaufort, while Bachman signed with the Emmanuel College wrestling team.

Cooper Bachman, center left, and Mitchell Singletary, center right, of Islands High School at their signing ceremony Friday.
Cooper Bachman, center left, and Mitchell Singletary, center right, of Islands High School at their signing ceremony Friday.

"USC-Beaufort came to see me play and I had a good game against Calvary Day," said SIngletary, who had a .368 career batting average for the Sharks, with a .433 mark this year. "I've been dreaming about this since I started playing at 6 years old and coach (Brandon) Collins has helped me a lot on the field and with college recruiting.

Bachman, a three-sport athlete at Islands, also was a defender on the Sharks soccer squad.

"I'm going to miss football, but I like the individual part of being a wrestler," said Bachman, who won a sectional title and finished third in the Class 4A state tournament. "There's nobody to blame when you lose, and when you win — it's all you."

Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Johnson's Amani Hamilton signs to play basketball at Savannah State