By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director

SPRING GARDEN – Sometimes the best shots are those that aren’t by design.

Spring Garden junior forward John Welsh learned that against Handley on Tuesday night.

With the Panthers clinging to a 3-point lead with less than 1:30 to go in the game, Connor Bates drove inside the lane and kicked the ball out to Welsh near the Spring Garden bench. Welsh sank a 3-pointer to stretch the Panther lead back out to six with 1:21 to go. Spring Garden held on down the stretch to claim a 57-52 victory to improve to 4-1 on the season.

Welsh finished the game with 15 points.

“Connor did a good job getting it to me,” Welsh said. “I wasn’t sure if I was going to shoot it at first. I was kind of hesitant, but luck was on my side and I knocked it down.”

“That was a ‘No, no, no, good shot’ shot,” Spring Garden coach Levi Hatcher joked. “We were up three, so it was one possession. With this team, and I hate to say it, sometimes a shot like that might be the only shot you get in a possession. I’m just glad he made it. I think he’s glad he made it too.”

Speaking of shots, junior guard Noah Barber found his rhythm early in the fourth quarter. He opened the quarter with a pair of buckets and a 3-pointer to stretch Spring Garden’s lead to seven at 47-40 with 6:20 remaining.

Barber finished with seven points.

“When we went into halftime (up 28-25), I thought we didn’t have a very good end of the half,” Hatcher said. “We challenged a couple of them.”

And the Panthers responded.

Junior forward Jake Welsh led the Panthers with 19 points including 13 in the second half. Bates had a pair of 3-pointers and finished with 10 points.

“Because I was on the block, it allowed our shooters to get some shots outside,” Jake Welsh said. “We’ve been struggling a little bit outside, but tonight, I think we did pretty decent.”

Jamarcus Daniel led Handley with 16 points, including four 3-pointers. Cooper Perry posted 10 points, including a pair of treys. Cannon Kyles came away with nine points and Cordan Patterson finished with six points.

“They’re so quick and so fast,” Hatcher said of the Tigers. “If they can play full court, getting steals above the 3-point line, those are killer-type turnovers. They’re so fast they’re going to get under the basket and finish or get fouled.

“Our key was to take care of the basketball, slow their transition down, and try to limit their second-chance opportunities. They’re really good at crashing the glass on the offensive side. They keep possessions alive. They’re scrappy. They’re quick. We just tried to make a concerted effort to make them take contested shots, box out and limit offensive rebounds.”

Spring Garden hosts area rival Cedar Bluff on Thursday.

Practice makes perfect start for Lady Panthers

SPRING GARDEN – The Spring Garden Lady Panthers love every challenge that’s thrown their way, but so far during the 2023-24 basketball season, they’ve throttled their competition.

Of their nine games so far, only two have been against Class 1A teams, which are in their own area. The rest have come against larger schools.

The Lady Panthers’ average margin of victory has been 41.7 points, including Tuesday night’s 79-34 victory over Class 4A Handley. Their closest contest thus far has been against Class 4A Deshler, a 17-point victory.

The Lady Panthers are definitely making things look easy during their 9-0 start, including Tuesday night’s thrashing of Handley.

“It’s been a good start for us,” junior point guard and Alabama commitment Ace Austin said. “We always say do what we do. I think that’s a mentality that’s always stuck with us. If we go out there and play how we’re supposed to play, then we should handle business.”

Austin certainly handled business on Tuesday night. She led the Lady Panthers with a game-high 29 points, including four 3-pointers. She also delivered eight assists, seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks.

Libby Brown also had a business-as-usual performance. She sank six treys and finished with 25 points. For the game, the Lady Panthers connected on 11 treys.

“Getting in the gym helps a lot,” Brown said. “Practice makes perfect.”

Indeed it does seem practice makes perfect. Spring Garden jumped out to a 26-7 first-quarter advantage and led 46-12 at halftime. The Lady Panthers pushed their lead to 65-28 after three quarters.

Austin sank buzzer-beating treys the first and third quarters.

“Right when I shot both of them I knew they were going in,” Austin said. “During practice, he (Coach Ricky Austin) always tells us to back up and get some range with them. I think practice is what made that happen.”

Brown also contributed three rebounds, two steals and an assist for the Lady Panthers. Chloe Rule came away with 10 points and six rebounds. Maggie Jarrett posted seven points, five steals, four rebounds, a block and an assist. Kristen Lewis finished with five points.

Takeriauna Mosley led the Lady Tigers with 13 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Zanautika Smith finished with eight points.