Gianna Amadio is an entertaining one to watch for Lincoln-Way Central simply because of the speed with which she plays.
The senior guard is always moving toward the ball and sprinting up and down the floor, which makes her a disruptive force for the Knights on both offense and defense.
There might be a downside — like limping off the court when the game’s over — but she usually has a smile on her face when all of that effort translates into a victory.
“For us, we don’t even bat an eye at that because that’s just been the Gianna Amadio I’ve watched for four years of high school basketball,” Lincoln-Way Central coach Dave Campanile said. “Just a never-let-up kind of kid.
“She comes off the floor looking like she went through car accident every game. She’s a tough kid and always bounces back.”
Amadio was limping again Tuesday night after helping lead the Knights to a 49-33 win over host Lockport in a SouthWest Suburban Conference crossover.
Here’s the deal. Amadio rolled her left ankle and sprained her right ankle over the past couple of weeks for Lincoln-Way Central (13-8), and it keeps acting up. That might sound unpleasant, but her mindset is simple.
So what?
“If I can walk it off, if it’s something that I can still play on,” Amadio said, “I’ll just deal with it afterward.”
Lockport (10-13), while trying to handle the frenetic Amadio all evening, was led in scoring by senior guard Veronica Bafia with nine points, Junior guard Lucy Hynes added five points and five rebounds before fouling out.
Amadio’s value often doesn’t show up on the stat sheet for the Knights. For example, she had five points and four rebounds Tuesday. But consider what she did away from the ball.
With 7:32 left in the fourth quarter, she found herself in the middle of four Lockport players, fighting for a rebound. She hit the floor hard but bounced right back up, and from there, sprinted down the court. She attempted a layup and drew the foul.
And she can score, too. In the second quarter, she pushed down the right baseline past a defender for an easy layup. Other players wouldn’t have the speed for such a scenario.
Same old, same old, according to senior guard Gracen Gehrke, who led all scorers with 19 points.
“She plays like that a lot,” Gehrke said of Amadio.
Gehrke should know. Gehrke, Amadio and senior forward Lina Panos have played together since fourth grade, starting with the Lincoln-Way Wildcats feeder program.
They have solid chemistry that’s likely to cause opponents a lot of problems down the final stretch of the season.
But when it comes to leadership, Amadio points to the team’s three sophomores — Olivia Gehrke, Brooke Katzmann and Aubrey Birmingham — as a big reason she takes it so seriously.
It’s partly because she, Panos and Gehrke started their varsity careers as sophomores.
“You want to make them comfortable with the group,” Amadio said. “Everyone on the team this year, except for the three sophomores, were on the team last year.
“You want to get them used to the way we do things. You want someone to look up to and not feel left out.”
After high school, Amadio will play at St. Xavier, along with several other Southland products, including Lincoln-Way East guard Makayla Kelly.
In fact, St. Xavier coach Sidney Lovitsch was in the bleachers Tuesday, intently watching Amadio.
Here’s also the rub. Amadio plans to study nursing at St. Xavier, so assuming she maintains her all-out philosophy, she very well might be able to heal herself.
“Exactly,” she said with a laugh.
Gregg Voss is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.