Spring Garden girls basketball repeat as AHSAA class 1A champs as Ace Austin dominates
BIRMINGHAM — Spring Garden girls basketball has gone back-to-back.
With a 60-31 win over Marion County in the Class 1A Finals at Legacy Arena, the Panthers took home their second straight title and ninth overall. It was a game the Panthers controlled from the jump, thanks in part to a balanced attack from Ace Austin, Libby Brown and Maggie Jarrett — who all had more than six points in the first quarter.
Austin turned in a double-double performance star players provide in big moments and finished the day with 35 points, shooting 15 of 25 from the field. She added 12 rebounds, four assists and four steals. At one point, Ace Austin was 3 of 10 from the field before heating up as the game went on. Austin singlehandedly outscored the Red Raiders.
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The lead was 13 at the half, as Spring Garden struggle to shoot it from deep — going 3 of 17. The other leading scorers for the Panthers included Chloe Rule with 10 points and eight rebounds, all offensive.
The state title caps off a dominant year for the Panthers, one where they finished with a 32-1 overall mark — the only loss coming out of state to top-ranked Bradley Central of Tennessee. They claimed multiple tournament titles including county, area and northeast regional. The Panthers dominated Class 1A opponents and even ranked opponents at one point beating ranked teams by an average of 33 points.
Maxwell Donaldson covers high school sports and Jacksonville State athletics for the Gadsden Times. Find him on Twitter/X @_Max_Donaldson and contact him at MDonaldson@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Spring Garden girls basketball repeat as AHSAA Class 1A champs
