CENTRE – Two of the most instrumental coaches in Spring Garden basketball history – both disciples of legendary coach Dale Welsh – met each other Saturday night for the first time as opposing coaches.

Former Spring Garden and current Piedmont coach Tommy Lewis faced off with current Panther boys coach Ricky Austin in the opening round of the Cherokee Invitational at the Gadsden State-Cherokee Arena.

Despite a tightly contested first half of action, Lewis’ team got the better of Austin’s by the final of 68-42.

The win propels Piedmont (7-1) to the tournament quarterfinals on Monday at 7:30 p.m. against Cherokee County, ironically another school Lewis has coached. Austin’s Panthers (3-7) play in the consolation bracket against Glencoe on Monday at 1:30 p.m.

Spring Garden jumped out to an 11-9 advantage at the end of the first quarter. The Panthers held a 21-20 lead at the half.

But then came the third quarter.

Piedmont went on a 26-10 run to take a commanding 46-31 lead into the fourth.

Jamaal Johnson led the charge for the Bulldogs by scoring 16 points and grabbing six rebounds. Tay Holloway added 10 points and seven boards. Christian Cantrell came away with nine points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists. Cory Sears and Chase Childers had seven and six points respectively.

“The first half, they (Spring Garden) were doing a good job of hitting their shots,” Lewis said. “I think it became a numbers game. We ran our whole second group in and played the whole second quarter with the second group. Most of his ball handlers had to stay through that.

“When we started the third, you basically had guys who had sat for a while, a bunch of senior guys who had a break. That gives you a little bit of an advantage.

Austin agreed.

“Coach Lewis could have had the same results in the first half as he did in the third quarter,” he said. “They kind of laid off of us early in the game. He played some of his bench a lot. It was more him being in control of what was going on. Even though we had a lead at halftime, they were in control of it.”

One key statistic Austin pointed to that hurt his team was the number of offensive rebounds (15) the Panthers gave up.

“I don’t know what percentage they shot, but it had to be a huge percentage because they were all layups,” Austin said. “We didn’t play a lick of defense. We didn’t screen out well. I know a lot of that has to do with them being fast and physical, but I’m disappointed in our lack of effort in trying to do those things.”

No one scored in double figures for Spring Garden. The Panthers were led by Andrew Maddox’s eight points. Casey Steward and Ethan Black both had six points. Jake Scott and Corey Anderson both netted five points.

“We basically tried to play a little more aggressively (in the second half),” Lewis said. “You try to tell kids if they play good defense, a lot of times the other stuff comes. We got some easy points, then they got a little confidence and made some of the points they weren’t making early.”

The following is a recap of other opening-round boys tournament action.

Boys

Sand Rock 83, Chattooga, Ga. 68 – Riley Norris and Brannon Burt both posted 23 points, and Justin Kyser added 21 in Sand Rock’s victory over Chattooga.

Drew Norris added seven points for the Wildcats (8-2).

Spencer London led the Indians (3-3) with 19 points. Rashad Ramsey added 18 points and Senorise Perry had 10 points. Nathan Schuster finished with nine points.

Sand Rock grabbed a 26-21 lead at the end of the first quarter, but Chattooga battled back to take a 47-46 halftime lead. The Wildcats then went on a 20-6 run in the third to take a 66-53 lead.

Sand Rock advances to the tournament quarterfinals, where it will face Cedar Bluff on Monday at 4:30 p.m. Chattooga will face Gaylesville in a consolation game on Monday at 10:30 a.m.

Cedar Bluff 50, Glencoe 48 – After leading for much of the game, Cedar Bluff briefly lost its lead with 3:14 to go in the game but managed to close out the victory down the stretch.

Marcus Reese led the Tigers (9-0) with 22 points, five assists and three rebounds. Tyric Scales added nine points, five rebounds and four assists. Tony McGinnis finished with eight points, six rebounds and an assist.

Rhett Norman led Glencoe (5-5) with 24 points. Trey Hill added nine points and Chance Cassidy finished with six points.

Cedar Bluff advances to the tournament quarterfinals where they will meet Sand Rock on Monday at 4:30 p.m. Glencoe faces Spring Garden in a consolation game on Monday at 1:30 p.m.

Cherokee County 67, Gaylesville 23 – Cherokee County jumped out on a 17-0 run and didn’t look back in the win over Gaylesville.

Coty Blanchard and Keon Rucker led the charge. They both finished with 14 points. D.J. Fife added eight points and Trevor Perry had seven points. Gabriel Chambers, Caleb Hays and Zeph Fife all had six points for the Warriors (3-1).

Gaylesville, still seeking its first win of the season, was led by Clay Joseph’s 13 points.

Cherokee County advances to meet Piedmont in the tournament quarterfinals on Monday at 7:30 p.m. Gaylesville takes on Chattooga in a consolation game on Monday at 10:30 a.m.