SPRING GARDEN – Spring Garden basketball coach Ricky Austin has come to call senior forward/center Neely Welsh ‘the finisher.’

Thursday night against Class 6A Oxford showed exactly why.

Welsh scored 13 of her game-high 29 points in the Class 2A, No. 2 Lady Panthers’ 65-57 victory. Welsh had all but five of Spring Garden’s points in the quarter, including a 6-for-6 performance from the line in the final 1:17.

“In the county championship game, I called her over at the start of the fourth quarter and I said ‘Hey, you’re the finisher. Catch your breath now cause you’ve got to finish this thing for us,’ It was the same message tonight,” Austin said.

“I thought she come out of the locker room at halftime and wanted the ball. She made some big shots for us. She made a big shot under the basket for us. It’s who she is. She’s got to be that person. She is that inside-outside tough matchup for people. I thought she showed a lot of wanting-to-finish-the-game-on-her-shoulders type mentality. I’m very pleased with how she played. I thought she had a nice game and showed a lot of leadership there at the end.”

Welsh said she hasn’t been “playing the cleanest I could” of late, but she certainly did on Thursday. She also connected on three 3-pointers and had four rebounds and three assists, which was Spring Garden’s senior night.

“I just decided it was time to put my foot down and kind of clean it all up and help the team out,” she said.

Speaking of helping the team out, junior guard Kayley Kirk connected on a huge 3-pointer after Oxford had cut a once 15-point Lady Panther lead down to a point at 50-49. Kirk rattled the shot home with 6:11 remaining in the contest, giving Spring Garden (25-1) a 53-49 cushion.

“I knew we needed a shot,” said Kirk, who finished with 15 points including three treys. “I came off a screen right there and that shot felt good going in. I thought it was going to bounce out, but luckily it went in.”

“Kayley’s (shot) was a big one. I thought it gave us a big boost again once she hit it,” Austin said. “I saw her teammates really pumped up. We all want Kayley to score. We love it when she scores. We know that’s so important to us. We know the games we’ve been in that she’s done that it’s been a difference maker for us.

“Ace (Austin) and Neely are going to get a lot of tough matchups. Defensive stops are going to be there for them. That third, that fourth person has got to step up. Right now, Kayley to me looks like she’s very unconscious shooting the ball. She’s like ‘I’m comfortable anywhere Coach.’ I like that look on her face right now.”

Spring Garden went on a 9-0 run to begin the game and built a 22-9 lead by the end of the first quarter. The Lady Panthers held a 31-21 advantage at halftime, but the Lady Yellow Jackets – who handed Spring Garden it’s only loss of the season back on Nov. 30, 64-58 – were far from out of it.

Oxford (18-4) managed to cut their deficit down to six at 47-41 after three quarters and down to 50-49 off a made basket by senior guard Kaleah Taylor with 6:26 to go. She finished with 16 points.

Kirk’s trey prevented the Lady Jackets from getting any closer when the Lady Panthers came back up the floor.

“They’re relentless,” Austin said of Oxford. “They’ve got good shooters. They’ve got good drivers. They give us matchups. They do a great job on picking on some spots they can score. I like that team. They play hard. They’ve got such a great attitude. They appreciate the competition. I hope we made each other better.”

Xaionna Whitfield led the Lady Jackets with 17 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Justice Woods and Lauren Ellard both finished with nine points. All of Ellard’s points came on treys.

Ace Austin added 16 points, six rebounds, six assists, three steals and a block for Spring Garden. Kirk also had five boards, an assist and a steal. Sarah Kate McKay finished with five points and eight rebounds.

“We had to know how to finish it at the end,” Coach Austin said. “At their place, we’re up 23-11 at the end of the first quarter and it was the same way tonight. We had a lead and they came back. I don’t think we played bad. I think we played against a good team all three times.

“Our girls in the locker room said ‘See if she’s got an extra game. We want to play them one more time.’ That’s the mentality we need and have got to have. Those are the kind of games that make us better. I feel like all three times, even if we would’ve lost tonight, we got something out of it. I’m very proud of what they brought in here and the game they brought. They were a great challenge for us.”

Boys

Spring Garden 69, Faith Christian 34

SPRING GARDEN – Spring Garden senior guard/forward Chaz Pope appears to have found his groove after suffering a serious knee injury in football.

Just five days after a late-heroic performance in the Cherokee County Tournament championship game, Pope led the Class 2A, No. 8 Panthers with 17 points on Thursday night in a 69-34 victory.

The win avenged a 65-53 loss to the Class 1A, No. 10 Lions (18-8) back on Jan. 6 in Anniston.

“Chaz is really starting to find himself now. He’s making those old Chaz Pope plays,” Coach Austin said. “It’s not just scoring. He’s rebounding. He’s getting steals. His toughness, he’s a competitor.”

Spring Garden (15-6) jumped out to a 20-9 advantage at the end of the first quarter and held a 37-14 edge at halftime. The Panthers led 54-24 at the end of three quarters.

John Welsh tossed in 15 points for the Panthers. Cooper Austin added 13 points, including three 3-pointers. Andrew Floyd delivered nine points. Andrew Bates and Jacob Welsh both finished with seven points.

Coach Austin praised his seniors for their contributions on the court.

“I told them in the locker room the first time I saw them collectively as a group as kindergarteners out on the playground, I said ‘Whoa, I got something special here.’ I saw Chaz’s toughness then. I saw Cooper’s light feet. I saw Andrew Bates’ ‘I’ll do what you need me to do Coach.’ Andrew Floyd came along later. It’s just a really special group. They just feed off of each other so well.”

Ethan Richerzhagen led the Lions with 13 points. Yashua Arevalo, Colton Pahman and Jacques Prater each finished with six points.