Twenty one to two.

The above numbers are not the odds on a horse race, just the ratio of free throw opportunities that Spring Garden held over Sand Rock in the fourth quarter of last Saturday’s Cherokee County Tournament girls championship game.

Although the No. 2 seed Lady Panthers (19-4) only made one field goal over the contest’s final eight minutes, they did convert 15 of the above number of charity attempts, which was enough to earn a 64-49 win.

Paige Anderson was the main Lady Panther visitor to the free throw line down the stretch.

With Spring Garden in the double-bonus free throw situation in the final minutes, the junior guard made good on 10-of-12 foul shots over the final 2:43. She finished 13-of-16 from the foul line.

“It helps us to get Paige some looks when in games where everyone pitches in,” said Spring Garden head coach Ricky Austin. “She passed when she needed to pass and scored when she needed to score. She played a complete game.”

Trailing 47-34 at the start of the fourth period, the No. 1 seed Lady Wildcats (18-5) drew within nine points at 5:45 by way of Ashley Beck’s two fouls shots and field goal.

Lauren Bell’s bucket with 3:26 to go kept the Lady ‘Cats within 49-40, but the hosts would get no closer.

The Lady Panthers outscored Sand Rock 17 to 7 over the last 2:28, and Spring Garden soon had their fourth straight county title in hand.

“I think that this was one of the best games mentally that we’ve played this year," said Austin. "We really came out focused in the first half. It’s really something when you hold a team that’s as good as Sand Rock to less than 50 points in their own gym.”

Anderson led the Lady Panthers with 25 points, followed by Bridget Parris and Nicole Ledbetter with 13 each.

Ledbetter grabbed 12 rebounds, while Jessie Barnes pulled down seven boards.

Anderson handed out five assists.

“Our defense lost the game for us tonight,” said Sand Rock head coach Lisa Bates. “We didn’t show up early and we didn’t come out with the fire that we should have had. Spring Garden did a much better job on defense then we did. We’re not going to win big games the rest of the year if we can’t do any better than this defensively. Foul trouble definitely hurt us early on, but we can’t win when Jenny Casey and Amy Crane score just two points each.”

Beck paced Sand Rock with 31 points, while Bell added eight.

Beck hauled in eight rebounds, while Crane passed for eight assists.

Spring Garden hit the Lady Wildcats with a game-opening 12-2 run on the way to a 12-6 first quarter lead.

The Lady Panthers made it 16-6 and 25-12 before Sand Rock called a time-out with 4:02 left in the second frame.

Spring Garden eventually took a 33-19 halftime lead.

The Lady Wildcats closed the gap to eight points midway through the third quarter, but Anderson’s seven points in the period’s last 2:24 helped the Lady Panthers take a 47-34 advantage after 24 minutes.

Sand Rock was in deep foul trouble at that point, with four of the five Lady Wildcats starters playing with four fouls.

Spring Garden took advantage of the above handicap, and the Lady Panthers soon clinched the first place trophy.

SPRING GARDEN (64): Anderson 25, Parris 13, Ledbetter 13, Barnes 9, Mobley 4.

SAND ROCK (49): Beck 31, Bell 8, Brown 4, Crane 2, Casey 2, Pendergrass 2