By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director

JACKSONVILLE – Spring Garden senior point guard Ace Austin is the definition of grind-it-out player.

Late last August, she suffered a high right ankle sprain going up for a block in the Lady Panthers’ first volleyball tournament of the season at Good Hope against Priceville. Austin was on crutches and in a boot for a few weeks before returning to action, but then led the Lady Panthers to their second straight state title.

On Tuesday afternoon against third-ranked Winterboro in the Class 1A Northeast Regional basketball tournament at Jacksonville State University’s Pete Mathews Coliseum, Austin drove in for a layup with 6:39 remaining in the second quarter. A Winterboro player came in under Austin and twisted the same ankle she had injured before.

After being fouled on the play, Austin stood at the free-throw line and made both of her free-throw attempts to give top-ranked Spring Garden a 12-point lead, but she was favoring it, grimacing from time to time the remainder of the game.

But that didn’t keep Austin from finishing it – and making her usual dynamic impact.

She delivered a game-high 32 points, including three 3-pointers. She was also 9-of-12 from the free-throw line, grabbed seven rebounds, had six assists, five steals and a pair of blocks in the Lady Panthers’ 54-34 victory.

Spring Garden (33-1) will take on No. 2 Ider (28-4) in a battle of defending state champions next Tuesday at 3 p.m.

Ider, which won the Class 2A title last year before dropping to 1A, defeated Appalachian 68-29 in Tuesday’s other 1A Northeast Regional semifinal.

The week off before the No. 1-vs.-No. 2 showdown could be a blessing in disguise for Austin and the Lady Panthers.

“I could tell I was always a step late (against Winterboro following the ankle injury on Tuesday),” Austin said. “I know I still got past them, but I felt like I was a step behind getting in front of them. That’s kind of how I felt. I wasn’t really explosive, but I battled through it. That just kind of describes Spring Garden. We’re not going to let anything take us down.”

Ace Austin’s head coach and father Ricky Austin has come to expect that kind of determination from his daughter.

“I thought Ace showed extreme toughness and grit, bouncing back from rolling her ankle early,” he said. “I kept asking her ‘Do you want to come out?’ She said ‘No.’”

Ace Austin isn’t the only Lady Panther with toughness and grit. Senior guard/forward Maggie Jarrett and senior forward Olivia Law knew they needed to step up their games to help their injured teammate.

Jarrett contributed 12 points, including three treys, with five rebounds and an assist. Law finished with 10 points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal.

“When she got hurt, the thought came over me like ‘Yeah, I need to pick it up and help her out because she’s hurt a little bit,’” Jarrett said. “I know Ace is going to come out and do the best she can when she’s hurt like that, and she did. I’m proud of her for finishing the game the way she did, very aggressive. I just knew I had to step up even more in that situation to help the team out.”

Coach Austin said Jarrett “did a great job steadying the ship when Ace was trying to battle to get two feet back under her.”

“We kind of felt that with Maggie back early in the year she’s the next girl who’s got to steady the ship for us,” he said. “I thought she did a great job. She doesn’t necessarily get the label as a point guard, but she had to play a point guard role tonight. She used to be a five for us. I’m proud of her for kind of having to step into a different role there and keep things steady for us.”

Spring Garden led 20-10 at the end of the first quarter and 34-21 at halftime. Ace Austin extended the Lady Panther lead to 43-29 with 3:38 to go in the third following three straight 3-pointers.

The Lady Panthers held a 45-30 edge after three quarters.

“It took a little pressure off of everybody,” Coach Austin said of Ace’s 3-pointers. “It was starting to get tight. It just kind of loosened up. I thought she might not could be able to attack the basket. I could tell she was a step slow. I was worried about her trying to get by somebody and still trying to finish. I said ‘Well, at least we’ve still got the shot.’ It was a comfort to see she could still get both feet under her and shoot the 3.”

Kalyria Massingale and Kailynn Williams led the Lady Bulldogs (27-2) with eight points apiece. Massingale added three assists, two rebounds, two steals and a block. Williams also had seven boards and a block. Katelyn Brown finished with six points, three rebounds and a steal.

“I’m proud of my girls for just finding a way,” Coach Austin said. “It wasn’t pretty. I didn’t think this game would be pretty. That’s because Winterboro is that scrappy. I thought we showed some toughness and some grit. We found a way to get it done.”