By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director

CENTRE – By her own admission, Spring Garden senior guard Libby Brown said she hasn’t been shooting up to her standard the past few games. She made it a point on Saturday to get up early, go by Dale Welsh Gymnasium and shoot a lot of 3-pointers to get prepared for the Cherokee County championship game against Sand Rock later in the evening at Richard Lindsey Arena in Centre.

It turned out that was a little easier said than done.

“I set my alarm this morning for 9 o’clock, but I overslept. I slept until 10,” Brown said. “I got up, got to the gym and the little kids were playing. I waited and waited for them to get done, then I went in and shot.”

Head coach Ricky Austin was also at the gym getting prepared by watching game film in his upstairs office. He kept hearing a lone basketball bouncing.

“That’s not unusual to hear somebody, but about 30 minutes later, I wanted to see who that was,” Austin said. “I went down there and she had the gun out. Her and her dad were on the court and she was getting up shots. I put laundry in the wash and come back through and she was still shooting.

“I know she’d done went around once and made 100 threes. She said ‘I need to make 100 more’ and I set it back up for her. That’s how focused she was.”

Brown’s focus paid off against Sand Rock. She sank Spring Garden’s first three shots – all 3-pointers. She added a fourth in the first quarter as the Lady Panthers built an early 16-point lead.

Brown finished with five treys and 17 points for the game in Spring Garden’s 64-46 victory. The win secured Spring Garden’s 21st county championship, fifth in a row, and Austin’s Sweet 16th in the girls division.

“I went straight to the locker room before I said anything and I wrote Sweet 16 on the board,” Austin said. “I said ‘You’ve got Final Four. You’ve got Elite Eight. You’ve got Sweet 16, but what happens to 9, 10, 11 and 12? All of those are special too, but it is special for my 16th county, and for them to be that group who gets it, a group who’s all in and wanted to do it and works hard every day, it has a meaning to it other than it being 16.”

Brown wasn’t the only Lady Panther who had a big night. Austin’s daughter and point guard Ace Austin scored a game-high 26 points, including a pair of treys of her own. The Alabama commitment scored 19 of her points in the second half. She also had seven assists, six rebounds and a steal.

Senior forward Chloe Rule contributed 18 points, 12 rebounds, two assists and two blocks for the Lady Panthers (23-1).

“I’m proud of my bunch for throwing punches in the first quarter and then at halftime taking the challenge to come out and set the tempo,” Coach Austin said. “We kind of went cold (in the second quarter). When we cooled off, they made a couple of buckets and made a run there in the second. They outscored us 19-11 in the second, but we had a good third quarter and it kind of made the difference there. We responded.

“Ace had a great second half. I thought Chloe Rule played a great game offensively. I thought defensively her rebounding was really good. She was strong around the basket. Olivia Law is doing some things not on the stat sheet that are big right now like hustle plays.”

As Coach Austin said, Sand Rock (17-7) kept its composure after being down 19-3 at the end of the first quarter. The Lady Wildcats managed to cut their deficit to six points at 28-22 on a pair of free throws with eight seconds led in the first half by senior guard Chloe Stephens, but Ace Austin made a basket at the buzzer to give Spring Garden a 30-33 advantage at halftime.

The momentum Ace Austin had heading into halftime carried over into the third quarter. She scored 15 points in the third to help Spring Garden build a 52-35 edge.

Coach Austin commended Sand Rock coach Lisa Bates’ game plan after the game.

“Her defense is the best defense we’ve played all year,” he said. “We’ve played against some bigger and faster people, but her defense is very solid. They make you earn everything.

“I talked to her before the game. Me and her were at mid court in pregame and I was thanking her for who she is and how prepared she is and how hard they work. I said ‘We’re the two who are getting old. We’re the dinosaurs around here.’ There’s a lot of respect there, thinking about what she does and how she prepares and how tough she makes it on us. I told her I appreciate that because there’s not a lot of that going on right now. I appreciate who they are.”

Katelyn St.Clair led Sand Rock with 14 points, including an 8-for-8 performance from the free-throw line. She also had four rebounds and two assists.

Kennedy Henderson collected 10 points, five rebounds, a steal and a block. Zoey Handy had seven points, six rebounds, two assists and a block. Chloe Stephens finished with five points, two rebounds and an assist.

Junior Varsity Girls Championship
Sand Rock 30, Cherokee County 21

CENTRE – Maddie Clanton collected 13 points in leading the Sand Rock junior varsity girls to a 30-21 victory over Cherokee County in the Junior Varsity Girls Championship game on Saturday.

Paitlyn Hughes added eight points for the Lady Wildcats. Kaylee Burns finished with five points.

Ava Martin and Marle Crane led the Lady Warriors with seven points apiece.

Sand Rock led 8-4 at the end of the first quarter and built a 16-6 advantage at halftime. The Lady Wildcats held a 19-12 edge after three quarters.