SAND ROCK – All season long, Spring Garden basketball coach Ricky Austin has been looking for something that would spark the Lady Panthers into a consistent winning streak.

While it remains to be seen, he may have found that spark he was looking for on Friday night at Sand Rock.

Just six days removed from losing to the Lady Wildcats in the Cherokee County Tournament title game – a loss that ended Spring Garden’s string of six consecutive county titles – an uncontested 3-point shot by the Panthers’ Tara Mullinax at the buzzer forced overtime.

In the extra session, Spring Garden was able to hit 9 of 12 free throws and hold off Sand Rock by the final of 46-41.

“We knew we were going to have to up our intensity level,” said Mullinax, who finished with 14 points. “The county tournament game hurt, and we knew we were just going to have to come out and play with a higher intensity level. We knew what we were going to have to do, and we did it.”

As crucial as Mullinax’s shot was to force overtime for the Panthers (14-8), Kelsey Turner connected on a pair of crucial jump shots at the 4:16 and 2:49 marks of the fourth quarter. The second of those shots tied the game at 31. Turner finished with nine points.

The front end of two free throws by Jordan Sides with 1:33 left in regulation gave Spring Garden a 32-31 lead.

Sand Rock (13-10) regained the lead at 34-32 with 54.5 seconds remaining on a 3-pointer by Amber Henderson. The Wildcats’ Paige Ashley went to the line with 16.5 seconds left and hit the front end of her two shots, putting Sand Rock out in front 35-32.

After a Mullinax rebound, Austin called timeout to set up the game-tying play and called on the unlikeliest of players to help set it in motion.

“Lynley Crabb was sick and didn’t play all night,” Austin said. “We called the play, and we had to have a post player who sets a screen. I had to call her in for just a few seconds. Her screen was huge in it, but Tara’s shot was bigger. As soon as it left her hand, I knew it was going in.”

“We really needed that. We’ve been down. We’ve been sick. We’ve been injured. We’ve lost some games that hurt us. We’re lacking confidence, but they’ve kept battling. Our second half tonight and overtime was the biggest thing that’s happened to us this year. We’re going to try and do everything we can to get behind that snowball. We’re going to push it, and we’re going to make things grow and let it grow for us the rest of the year.”

Sand Rock coach Lisa Bates told her team to be wary of Mullinax taking the last shot, but she said “my girls didn’t listen and didn’t execute what I told them to do.”

“You don’t lose a game when you’re up by three with that much time left,” Bates said. “We missed a free throw there that would have put us up by four and that would have iced the game. He (Austin) called timeout and I explained to my girls what we were going to do. We were going to switch off screens, get up in their face and not even let them take a three. We’d give up a two or foul them or whatever, but we don’t let her shoot a three.

“We stood back there and let her have it. We chose not to guard the best player on the floor, so we chose to lose the game.”

In overtime, Sand Rock went back up 37-35 with 3:10 left on a pair of Henderson free throws. That would be the last time the Panthers would trail in the game.

Sides connected on all six of her free-throw attempts in overtime, part of an 11-6 Spring Garden run in the extra period. Sides also finished with 14 points, including a 7-of-8 performance at the charity stripe.

Austin said his wife and assistant coach Dana Austin challenged Sides to step up her game on Friday.

“She said ‘You go out and you do what you’re supposed to do. You play to your capabilities. You make a difference,’” Ricky Austin said. “She’s been stressing that on her the whole day – pregame, the bus ride over here, the locker room. Every time she had a chance to talk to her on the bench, she kept stressing for her to make a difference, and I thought Jordan really responded to that.

“I’m proud for Jordan. She needed a spark. She’s a hard worker and she’s giving me everything she’s got, but she needed some positive results. Knocking down the free throws was big … not only that, but also putting herself in a position to get fouled. That was as important as the free throws.”

Speaking of free throws, they continue to be a thorn in Sand Rock’s side. The Wildcats connected on just 9 of 18 from the line in the game. Spring Garden sank 14 of 20.

“In a game that close, free throws matter,” Bates said. “It made the difference in the ball game. We didn’t hit ours again, and they hit theirs.

“We knew they were going to come in here really intense and fired up. I still feel like we played hard, but we just didn’t play smart the last minute or so.”

Gena Farmer led Sand Rock with 15 points, six rebounds and four steals. Ashley finished with nine points. Carrie Robertson added eight points and seven rebounds. Henderson finished with seven points, three rebounds, two steals and two assists.

The game was tied at 8 after the first quarter. Sand Rock built a 21-13 lead at the half and held a 27-24 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Boys

Sand Rock 58, Spring Garden 25 – Brannon Burt and Riley Norris proved to be a potent 1-2 combination for Class 2A, No. 5 Sand Rock Friday night against Spring Garden. They both finished with 12 points, with Norris adding six rebounds and Burt dishing out four assists in the Wildcats’ 58-25 victory over the Panthers.

Sand Rock (19-3) jumped out to a 17-6 lead at the end of the first quarter and held a 37-14 lead at the half. By the end of the third quarter, Sand Rock had built a 50-19 advantage.

Chad Thompson added 10 points and four boards for the Wildcats. Drew Norris had eight points and four assists. Cliff Bailey netted six points and Justin Kyser finished with five points.

“It’s nice not have to depend on just one guy,” Sand Rock coach Brian Mackey said. “The scoring was even and everybody was playing hard. That’s a good thing to have, but we’ve got to work on turnovers. We’ve got to do a better job of taking care of the ball.”

The Wildcats had 19 turnovers in the game.

Casey Steward led Spring Garden (4-16) with 10 points and eight rebounds. Ethan Black had eight points, including two 3-pointers. Corey Anderson finished with five points.

“We were out-manned,” Austin said. “They’ve got a great team, and they just attack you in so many ways. About the time you get one thing adjusted, then they’re attacking you another way.”