By Joe Medley, East Alabama Sports Today
BIRMINGHAM — Hugs for Ace Austin came from all directions Thursday.
Two came from her father and coach, Ricky Austin … one as he pulled his starters late in Spring Garden’s 73-44 victory over Brilliant in Thursday’s Class 1A state title game in Legacy Arena, the other hug in the moments immediately following the game.
Another came from retired Alabama High School Athletic Association assistant director Wanda Gilliland, who met one of the greatest high school basketball players in Alabama history just inside the “AHSAA Finals” logo, where Austin hit her longest 3-pointer on the way to a 40-point, most-valuable-player performance.’
Gilliland embraced the University of Alabama signee and talked into her ear.
“I said, ‘I’m proud of you,’ and wished her good luck at Alabama,” Gilliland said. “I’ve known her since she was little, and she’s special. She’s special in Alabama.”
And with that, one of Alabama’s best and brightest high school basketball careers ended, and talk of Austin’s legacy begins.
For the record, Spring Garden went 203-10 in games in which she played since becoming the Panthers’ starting point guard in seventh grade. That includes an 8-0 record on Legacy Arena’s floor, where No. 1 wore her jersey well while leading the Panthers to four Class 1A state titles, including the past three in a row.
Only AHSAA reclassification kept her and her Spring Garden teammates over the years from hoisting six “blue map” trophies. Spring Garden spent her eighth-grade and freshman seasons in Class 2A, bumping up against Molly Heard-led Pisgah in the Northeast Regional both years.
Fans will remember Ace Austin, the diminutive seventh-grader with a white headband and confident grin who carried herself like a senior while scoring a team-high 14 points as Spring Garden head St. Luke’s in the 2020 final.
She looked barely big enough to fill her uniform, but she played large enough to promise the big present and future to come.
Fans will remember her 40-point, 10-rebound, eight-assist, five-steal performance Thursday, but more for style than the numbers.
In the first quarter, she wedged herself between three Brilliant players, somehow got up a shot between their sea of arms, drew a foul, made the shot and made the free throw.
With five minutes to play, and the game’s outcome more than apparent, Ace Austin stopped on the “AHSAA Finals” logo at the five-second line, just in front of Spring Garden’s bench, and swished a logo 3-pointer.
Yes, the shot Caitlin Clark made famous is part of Ace Austin’s game.
Once she hit 40 points, it came time for the curtain call for Ace Austin and Spring Garden’s four other seniors. Ricky Austin made the five-for-five substitution, and hugs ensued on Spring Garden’s bench.
Ace Austin had shot her last for Spring Garden, and the time was at hand to talk what her high school career represented.
Ricky Austin called her “the best player I’ve seen in the state of Alabama in my 29 years of coaching.”
Ace Austin’s impact goes deeper, he said.
“The legacy she’s left? You can talk about points, and you can talk about championships,” he said. “But all of the road trips that we took this year, and no matter where we were, we come out of the locker room, and little boys and little girls lined up, wanting her to autograph shoes, and autograph hats, and autograph basketballs.
“How she’s influenced those kids and how they look at, maybe, and undersized player that’s committed and worked hard. I think she’s affected a lot of people in our state because of that.”
