By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director
BIRMINGHAM – Spring Garden girls basketball coach Ricky Austin has been on the losing end of a lopsided Final Four game before – against Keith in the 2015 title game – so he kind of knew how Elba felt on Monday afternoon.
The top-ranked Lady Panthers turned in almost as dominating a performance as a basketball team could at Legacy Arena in the 1A state semifinals. They held No. 4 Elba scoreless in the first half. The Lady Tigers didn’t score their first basket until a layup by Anastasia Caldwell with 6:32 to go in the third quarter of a 62-16 rout.
Spring Garden (32-1) fell just shy of the AHSAA state tournament girls’ record for fewest points allowed, set by T.R. Miller when the Lady Tigers beat Douglas 46-13 in 2022.
On Monday, the Lady Panthers built a 21-0 first-quarter advantage and held a 41-0 edge at halftime. It was 44-2 when Caldwell made the Lady Tigers’ first basket, and 57-6 headed into the fourth quarter.
Elba (28-5) didn’t reach double figures on the scoreboard until a Brooke Tinsley basket with 5:21 left in the game.
The difference was the Lady Panthers’ defense. Spring Garden forced 27 turnovers, including 21 steals. The Lady Panthers out-rebounded Elba 45-29 and held the Lady Tigers to just eight made field goals in 36 attempts from the floor, including 0-for-9 from 3-point range.
No Elba player reached double figures in scoring. Nyasia McCullough led the Lady Tigers with eight points.
“Obviously very proud of our defense,” Austin said. “Very proud of the way our defense showed up early to create some easy opportunities for us. That’s what we want to set the tone for us, and these girls did a great job of making that happen.
“I really wanted to jumpstart my kids. Sometimes we get a little bit slow. I was afraid they (Elba) were going to walk the ball down the floor, make it a slow-paced game. They wanted a 30-30 type ball game, but we wanted to make sure that didn’t happen.”
It didn’t.
“We couldn’t get a drive and we couldn’t get a shot off. They did a good job of not letting us get in rhythm at all,” Elba coach Shaun Hammonds said. “I’ll take the blame on that. I should’ve done a better job of preparing them for what we seen.
“We hate that it ended the way it did, but we all know Spring Garden is the cream of the crop. Ricky Austin is a heck of a coach and he had his girls prepared. They’ve played a tremendous schedule and they’ve beat a lot of great teams.”
Alabama commitment and Lady Panther junior point guard Ace Austin led Spring Garden with 22 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and five steals. Senior center Chloe Rule and senior shooting guard Libby Brown netted 14 points apiece. Rule also had five rebounds and three steals. Brown sank three treys, had five assists and four steals.
“I feel like we’ve all prepared for this moment,” Ace Austin said. “All the hard work we’ve had during the summer and the season, this is what we do it for.”
Rule said she felt more comfortable on the Legacy Arena stage than this time last year.
“I just knew it’s my senior year and I want to leave all I have on the court,” Rule said. “With this just being the second time being down here, I feel a lot better than I did last year, just because last year I was real nervous and anxious. I have a lot of trust in my teammates. I feel comfortable around them.”
Spring Garden will now face seventh-ranked Marion County for the second straight season for the 1A girls’ championship. The Lady Panthers won last year’s title tilt 62-39 for their eighth state title.
Their latest battle is Thursday at 4 p.m. at Legacy Arena.
Marion County (18-14), which will be playing in its fourth straight Class 1A championship game, defeated Keith in Monday’s other state semifinal 65-37.
“(Marion County) Coach (Scott) Veal does a great job,” Coach Austin said. “He’s a great coach, always well prepared. I’ve coached against him at Phillips and Marion last year. He’s always got a game plan, and that’s something I respect.”
