Second-half shutout
- Updated: February 18, 2016
Spring Garden girls hold TCC scoreless in the second half, rolls in Regional, includes scores and schedule
Thursday’s NE Regional scores
Class 1A Boys
Sacred Heart 94, Spring Garden 48
Winterboro 67, Cedar Bluff 58, OT
Class 1A Girls
Spring Garden 59, Talladega County Central 15
Winterboro 58, Cedar Bluff 57
Class 7A Boys
Gadsden 56, Mountain Brook 54
Spain Park 89, Grissom 61
Class 7A Girls
Buckhorn 55, Mountain Brook 44
Hewitt-Trussville 52, Huntsville 40
Friday’s Games
5A Girls: Anniston vs. Boaz, 9 a.m.
5A Boys: Anniston vs. Guntersville, 10:30 a.m.
5A Girls: Hayden vs. Madison County, noon
5A Boys: Alexandria vs. J.O. Johnson, 1:30 p.m.
2A Girls: Asbury vs. Ranburne, 3 p.m.
2A Boys: Cleveland vs. Collinsville, 4:30 p.m.
2A Girls: Thorsby vs. Ider, 6 p.m.
2A Boys: Vincent vs. Section, 7:30 p.m.
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
JACKSONVILLE — As much as the Spring Garden girls basketball team rides the 3-pointer, defense really is the backbone of its approach.
The Lady Panthers’ D was on display in a big way Thursday as they overwhelmed Talladega County Central 59-15 in the Class 1A Northeast Regional. They will play Winterboro at 3 p.m. Monday for a return trip to the Final Four in Birmingham.
Spring Garden held TCC scoreless in the second half. The Tigers (14-13) were 0-for-17 from the field, 0-for-10 from 3-point range. Anysiah Taylor had two free throws in the final 10 seconds of the third quarter for their best chance to score.
“Defense has always been the backbone of our game plan,” Madison Sides said. “Every single day in practice we work on defense, defense, defense, because defense is what’s going to win it or lose it for us. If our defense is good that game then we’re going to win, no doubt.”
And how good was it on this day? “Really good,” said Savannah Dempsey.
The Lady Panthers created 23 TCC turnovers, off which they scored 29 points. They had 12 steals, divided equally between halves.
“I think our conditioning made a difference there and we did an excellent job of closing out,” Spring Garden coach Ricky Austin said. “We talked at halftime if we just keep five people looking at the basketball when they have it in their possession they’re going to have a hard time scoring and that’s exactly what ended up happening.
“I just didn’t realize they weren’t going to be able to score.”
In their defense, the Lady Tigers had an eighth-grader, two ninth-graders and a sophomore on the floor much of the second half.
On the offensive side, the Lady Panthers (28-4) were 8-of-31 from 3-point range. Sides and Dempsey combined for seven of them. Sides had 19 points and Dempsey had 15. Both were 6-of-15 overall from the field.
“Coach Rat (Austin) always says bring our best every single game,” Sides said. “I think we’ve really taken that to heart and I think everybody is bringing their best game right now.”
On the cover: Spring Garden’s Madison Sides loads up for one of her four 3-pointers in the Lady Panthers’ victory over TCC. (Photo by Kristen Stringer/Krisp Pics Photography)
Spring Garden 59, Talladega Co. Central 15
SPRING GARDEN (28-4) – A.J. Broom 1-4 2-2 4, Kerstin Bryant 1-8 0-0 2, Madison Sides 6-15 3-5 19, Savannah Dempsey 6-15 0-0 15, Tykeah Rogers 3-7 3-5 9, Katie Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Deana Lambert 0-1 0-0 0, Macy Reedy 0-4 0-0 0, Payton McGinnis 1-3 1-2 4, Tiyonna Rogers 0-0 0-0 0, Chloe Jarrett 3-3 0-0 6, Madison Jennings 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-60 9-14 59.
TCC (14-13) – Devona Gover 0-3 0-0 0, Savona Garrett 2-14 0-0 4, Davionna Stockdale 0-3 2-2 2, Anysiah Taylor 0-1 0-2 0, Janyla Wallace 0-5 0-0 0, Alisha Morris 1-1 0-0 2, Tyra Gooden 1-2 0-0 3, Deja Gover 0-1 0-0 0, Nyah Garret 0-0 0-0 0, Marlonda Pemberton 2-5 0-0 4, Jamiyah Garrett 0-1 0-0 0, Sydney Player 0-1 0-0 0, Danyia Maple 0-0 0-0 0, Mylea Gash 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 6-37 2-4 15.
Spring Garden 17 17 13 12 — 59
TCC 4 11 0 0 — 15
3-point goals: Spring Garden 8-31 (Broome 0-1, Bryant 0-3, Sides 4-11, Dempsey 3-11, Lambert 0-1, Reedy 0-2, McGinnis 1-2); TCC 1-16 (Dv. Gover 0-2, Garrett 0-6, Stockdale 0-3, Taylor 0-1, Wallace 0-2, Gooden 1-2). Rebounds: Spring Garden 41 (Ty. Rogers 13, Sides 8); TCC 33 (Pemberton 7). Total fouls: Spring Garden 11, TCC 13. Officials: Donald Scott, Stacey Newton, Will Rasley.
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