It could be a rewarding next few weeks for Spring Garden’s Ace Austin and Buckhorn’s Caleb Holt.

The two standouts were named Alabama High School Basketball Players of the Year by MaxPreps this week.

Austin, a junior point guard and Alabama commit, led the Panthers to a second straight Class 1A state title last week. She scored 35 points and had 12 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals in the championship game win over Marion County and was named tournament MVP.

For the season, she led Spring Garden to a 33-1 record and averaged 20.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 3.6 steals per game. She follows Hoover’s Reniya Kelly (2023) and Hazel Green’s Samiya Steele (2022) as MaxPreps Girls Players of the Year.

The 6-foot-6 Holt led Buckhorn to a second straight state title last week. He scored 37 points in a semifinal win over Helena and had 16 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in an overtime win over Mountain Brook in the title game, though he fouled out in the final minute of regulation.

For the season, the sophomore averaged 20.2 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3 steals and 2.4 assists per game. He is ranked as the No. 3 national prospect in the class of 2026, according to 247 sports. He follows previous Alabama MaxPreps Players of the Year Labaron Philon (2023) and Barry Dunning (2022).

Both Austin and Holt will be considered for inclusion in the MaxPreps All-American teams. The boys will be released April 10. The girls will be released April 11. Holt and Austin are also expected to be contenders for the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s Mr. and Miss Basketball Awards, which will be announced April 16 in Montgomery.