Ace Austin piled up 32 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in Monday’s Class 1A semifinal win over R.C. Hatch.

The Spring Garden star had one favorite part of her triple-double.

“I don’t really care about points. I care about my assists,” the Alabama basketball signee said. “I’m just glad that I’ve had teammates the past years who’ve been by my side and able to finish the shots.”

Behind the back of 24 assists for the No. 1 Panthers, Austin and her teammates put together a dominant 81-34 win over R.C. Hatch in the Class 1A state semifinals to advance to the title game against Brilliant.

“It’s been an all-season thing,” Austin said of her 11 assists. “All season, we’ve always had that connection of the long passes, and there’s been some times I don’t even look at the other end of the floor, I just turn around and throw it because I know she’s down there.

“That kind of just shows we’ve grown up playing together, so that just shows the connection we’ve built since being young.”

The Panthers reeled of a 32-8 first-quarter performance after Ace Austin piled up 17 points in just eight minutes of play to lead the Panthers. She shot 11-for-18 from the field in the win and 5-for-9 from 3-point range.

Austin, a senior, said she promised her dad and coach Ricky that she and the group would be down in Birmingham multiple times during her time with the Panthers; Spring Garden is chasing its third straight state title.

“It means a lot to be here again, but really for the community,” she said. “We’ve had great support, and we really don’t do it for ourselves. We do it for the name that’s across our chest and the people who don’t even go to Spring Garden that support us.

“We’re not doing it for ourselves; we’ve had rings in the past, but we don’t care about that. We care about giving our community something to come out and watch.”

The Panthers had to go through Class 1A No. 3 Winterboro and No. 2 Ider in the Northeast Regional to get to the state semifinals, with Austin praising his group for the job it’s done this year.

“You always say iron sharpens iron, and we had a really good schedule, and that’s what’s been so impressive with this group of seniors. It doesn’t matter what the challenge has been, just do it. They don’t even get excited no more when I throw something else out there, they just say, ‘Okay coach, let’s do this again.’”

R.C. Hatch was led by 12 points from Breoynce Myers and 10 from Demerria Bates.

“It’s been a great experience, especially for my younger girls,” coach Zannetta Whitt said. “I have two in eighth grade, I have a senior that’s been here with me. I’ve only been coaching for three years, so this, was an experience. I’ve only been head coach for three years; I was an assistant coach, so this has been an experience for me as well.

“We’ve worked hard our season, we’ve worked hard. We’ve been the underdogs all season, so to get here is great.”

Star of the game: Austin dominated with a triple-double to lead the No. 1 Panthers.

Did you know? Spring Garden has won nine girls’ basketball state titles. Those titles came in 1987, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2023 and 2024.

Stat sheet: Spring Garden – Olivia Law piled up 19 points and shot 8-for-13 from the field, dishing out 3 assists and grabbing 3 rebounds. Maggie Jarrett finished with 16 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists in the win, while Lacie McMurray had 6 points. The Panthers shot 28-for-56 from the field. R.C. Hatch – Tori Billingsley had a team-high 8 rebounds, while Jakobia Ross had 8 points and 3 rebounds to go along with 4 steals in the loss. Moeisha Myers had 2 assists and 2 rebounds.

They said it: “I think the experience, this is the first time for them. The lights are bright, the stage is big, I think now they see what it is, what it’s going to take, and I think they’ll be ready when we come back. We’ll be back.” — R.C. Hatch coach Zannetta Whitt on her group.

“I’m very impressed with this group of seniors and how they’ve handled this whole year being so business-like, and today. It’s year-round, and they were just so even at shootaround, and you want the energy and you want the excitement at the same time, you know it’s coming, and I saw it when the game started. I was really, really pleased with how they got going in the first quarter.” — Spring Garden coach Ricky Austin on the game.

“He knew it, everybody knew it, she was going to have to step up and be a big-time player for us. Everybody puts in hard work at practice, and nobody’s going to slack, and it just shows that everybody, if anything, we’re going to have done extra rep instead of taking a rep away. I’m just proud that she’s come along. She’s worked for this moment and I’m glad she’s on my team and nobody else’s team.” — Ace Austin on Olivia Law.

“I probably won’t manage it very well. I’m going to make sure and enjoy every second of it, good or bad. If we were to lose the state championship game, it most definitely wouldn’t define this team’s legacy and what they’ve done, but that’s not what we want. We’re going to work hard to make sure that it does go out that way, but I’ve pumped the brakes on long enough and we’re going to have fun.” — Ricky Austin on the state final game.