Spring Garden girls coach Ricky Austin wanted to jump start his top-ranked team Monday morning at Legacy Arena in Birmingham.

“I was afraid they (Elba) would walk the ball downcourt and make it a slow-paced game,” Austin said. “We didn’t want that.”

The Class 1A state semifinal turned out to be anything but slow for the Panthers.

Spring Garden shut out the Tigers 41-0 in the first half and rolled to a 62-16 victory that earned the Panthers a chance at a repeat state title Thursday.

“Obviously, I was very proud of our defense and the way it showed up early and created easy opportunities,” Austin said. “We went straight to defensive preparation for this game. We wanted to set the tone and the girls did a good job of making that happen.”

In the first half alone, Spring Garden (32-1) scored 30 points off 23 Elba turnovers, outrebounded the Tigers 21-9 and held them to 0-of-10 shooting.

“It was a tough first half,” Elba coach Shaun Hammonds said. “We just challenged them in the lockerroom. We just told them, ‘Let’s show some school pride and get after it and see if we can put the ball in the basket,’ and we finally did. But hats off to Spring Garden. They played terrific defense.”

The Tigers (28-5) finally scored their first points on Anastasia Caldwell’s layup with 6:31 left in the third quarter, provoking a cheer from fans on both sides. The Panthers led 57-6 after the third quarter.

Alabama junior commit Ace Austin, a leading candidate for Miss. Basketball in the state this season, finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 steals to lead Spring Garden. She didn’t play in the fourth quarter.

“We played against her as a seventh-grader, and she was pretty dominant then,” Hammonds said. “That game back then was a little more competitive. She’s a great player. Ricky and Dana (Austin) have done a great job developing her. She’s got a bright future at the University of Alabama. Even though we’ve taken losses, it’s an honor to play against someone like that.”

Alabama women’s basketball coach Kristy Curry and several of her players were at Legacy Arena to watch the game.

Star of the game: Austin was 9-of-16 from the field, 2-of-6 from the 3-point line and 2-of-2 from the free throw line in 24 minutes of action.

“This is my third time down here and, growing up with my dad, I feel like I’ve always been here,” Austin said. “It’s still amazing to play here. I feel like we are prepared when we get here through the hard work we put in during the summer and into the season. This is what we do for.”

Stat sheet: Spring Garden – Chloe Rule had 14 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals. Libby Brown had 14 points and 4 steals. Eight Spring Garden players scored and 10 played. Elba – Nyasia McCullough had 8 points.

By the numbers: Spring Garden shot 37.9 percent from the field (25-of-66), 18.2 percent from 3 (6-of-33) and 66.7 percent from the foul line (6-of-9). Elba was 8-of-36 from the field (22 percent) and 0-of-9 from both the free throw line and the 3-point line. Spring Garden had a 33-4 edge in points off turnovers. The Panthers finished with 21 steals.

Did you know? Elba avoided a record-setting loss by finishing with 16 points. The fewest points recorded in a state semifinal game was 13 by Douglas in a 46-13 loss in the 4A semis in 2002, according to ASWA president A. Stacy Long.

They said it:

“With this being my second time here, I feel a lot better than I did last year. I was real nervous last year, but this year I have a lot of trust in my teammates.” – Rule.

“It’s why I chose Alabama. They are family. They’ve always been family. They are always there to support me no matter what the outcome of the game is, and that means a lot.” – Austin on Alabama coach Kristy Curry attending the game.

“It has been a great year. One game doesn’t tell the story of a team going 28-4. We had a 19-game win streak this year. That was a school record. I’m proud of the girls. I hate the way it ended, but we all know Spring Garden is the cream of the crop and Ricky Austin is a heck of a coach. I’ve been watching them all year. When I saw them blow out Oxford at home, I knew we would have our hands full.” – Hammonds.

Next up: Spring Garden will face Marion County at 4 p.m. Thursday in a rematch of last year’s state championship game. The Panthers won 62-39 a year ago.

“When we got done down here last year, we started peaking around the corner about what this year might look like,” Ricky Austin said. “Coach (Scott) Veal does a great job. He is a great coach and is always well prepared. He always has a game plan, and that’s something I respect.”