Back in the finals
- Updated: February 29, 2016
Spring Garden exacts payback on Keith, reaches Class 1A girls state title game
Tykeah Rogers (35) gets behind everybody for a fast-break layup in Monday’s Class 1A girls state semifinal game. (Photos by Kristen Stringer/Krisp Pics Photography)
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
BIRMINGHAM — It took the Spring Garden Lady Panthers a little while to get used to the bigger, deeper sight lines in the Legacy Arena of the BJCC, but once they did there was no stopping them. The Keith Lady Bears never did quite adjust and got left behind.
Spring Garden reached the state title game for the second year in a row Monday when it beat Keith – the team that beat it in last year’s final – 50-34 in the Class 1A semifinals.
The Lady Panthers (30-4) will play a “very athletic” Linden team (19-6) Thursday at 4 p.m. for a shot at their fifth state championship and first since 2008.
“Playing for another state championship … you still can’t describe it,” Spring Garden coach Ricky Austin said. “It’s like the first time we were in this position, you’re almost in a fog. Is it real?
“Yeah, we’re playing for a state championship, but we’re also having a lot of fun. This has been the funnest two weeks of basketball I’ve had in a long time.”
It was a slow start for both teams as they felt each other out and got used to the bigger stage.
The Lady Panthers hit only one of their first eight shots from the floor, while Keith went scoreless until 1:05 remained in the first quarter. After the slow start, the Lady Panthers hit six of their next seven shots from the floor to take a 16-2 lead and never looked back.
“The whole time we were on the court we kept telling our teammates once we knock down one shot we’re just going to roll from there,” senior sharp-shooter Madison Sides said.
The Lady Panthers credited their post-season prep in college gyms for getting them comfortable in the bigger arenas. The day after the area tournament ended they pushed their own bleachers back to make a bigger gym in preparation for the regional at Jacksonville State. After winning the regional, they practiced at the Gadsden State-Centre Arena and Samford, and Monday morning before their game they had a shootaround in UAB’s Bartow Arena.
They wound up shooting 43.5 percent from the floor for the game.
“Once we got into these bigger gyms we immediately talked to them about how to shoot in a big gym, how to focus, concentrate on the rim when you walk in,” Austin said. “These girls have been here and I think that’s as much as being at UAB this morning as Madison and Savannah (Dempsey) have been here and shot in this arena last year.
“We shot well in the first game last year and it disappeared in the second game. That was my fault and that won’t happen this time. We’re going to prepare a little bit different between these two games than we did last year.”
The outside shooting of Sides and Dempsey opened up the inside for Tykeah Rogers and she dominated. Rogers finished with 23 points and 15 rebounds.
The Lady Bears (31-3), meanwhile, never started finding their range until three minutes elapsed in the second quarter and shot only 35 percent for the game. And when they missed, Spring Garden was there to rebound. The Lady Panthers had a 20-9 edge on the boards and a six-point lead at halftime. They outrebounded Keith 36-19 in the game.
Defense played as big a role as the rebounding for Spring Garden. The Lady Panthers opted for a double double-team for the first time and it proved quite effective.
They put Rogers and Sides on Zykia Pettway and Kerstin Bryant and AJ Broome on Harriett Winchester. They held Winchester to six points in the first half and Pettway, who they “didn’t have an answer for” last year, to four points in the game.
“I thought our positioning and spacing on defense was excellent,” Austin said. “It was great team defense. We’re just not the most explosive team; we’ve got to have good defense.”
Linden reached the championship game by beating Decatur Heritage 58-44. Amber Richardson scored 28 points on 12-of-15 shooting and grabbed 14 rebounds. Imiya Agee scored 18 points.
Spring Garden 50, Keith 34
KEITH (31-3) – Harriett Winchester 7-16 1-3 17, Ambreya Snow 2-9 0-0 6, Jakyra Simmons 0-3 0-0 0, Zykia Pettway 2-3 0-0 4, Shatavia Moore 2-5 1-1 5, Jakayla Pettway 0-0 0-0 0, Qumilia Johnigan 0-1 0-0 0, Alyshia Boone 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 14-40 2-4 34.
SPRING GARDEN (30-4) – A.J. Broome 1-4 0-0 2, Kerstin Bryant 2-4 1-2 5, Madison Sides 4-10 0-0 10, Savannah Dempsey 3-8 0-0 8, Payton McGinnis 1-2 0-0 2, Tykeah Rogers 9-18 4-6 23. Totals 20-46 5-8 50.
Keith 2 15 10 7 — 34
Spring Garden 11 12 16 11 — 50
3-point goals: Keith 4-14 (Winchester 2-7, Snow 2-3, Simmons 0-3, Boone 0-1); Spring Garden 5-18 (Broome 0-2, Bryant 0-1, Sides 2-8, Dempsey 2-4, Rogers 1-3). Rebounds: Keith 19 (Moore 6); Spring Garden 36 (Rogers 15). Total fouls: Keith 9, Spring Garden 5. Officials: Melanie Gess, Shelby Sims, Terry Anthony.
Spring Garden’s A.J. Broome (3) and Kerstin Bryant (15) converge on Keith’s Harriett Winchester in one of the two double teams that were key for the Lady Panthers Monday. (Photo by Kristen Stringer/Krisp Pics Photography)
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