With area play in high gear, Spring Garden's boys get back in win column

SPRING GARDEN — It's been a while for the Spring Garden boys basketball team.

The Panthers shot down Jacksonville Christian 46-39 at home Monday night. The last time they won was Dec. 5 at JCA, and in between that victory and the one Monday was nine losses.

In that one, Spring Garden led by 21 before surviving with a one-point win. In the rematch, the Panthers opened the fourth quarter ahead by 16 before the Thunder trimmed it to six at one point.

No matter — Spring Garden enjoyed a chance to get a win.

"One of the players asked, 'Does it feel like it's been a year?'" Spring Garden head coach Levi Hatcher said. "I was like, 'Yeah, it's been a while. So, now that you've got that taste of what it feels like to win, you've got to use that to start trying to string together some games.' Going forward, we still have high goals set for this team.'"

Although Spring Garden sits at 3-10 overall, the Class 1A, Area 12 record is 3-2. The Panthers will face two more area opponents this week: Gaylesville at home Tuesday and Faith Christian on the road Thursday. JCA dropped to 7-6, including 1-3 in Area 12.

They did it by building a 26-21 halftime and then taking control in the third quarter. The Panthers’ advantage ballooned to 42-26 by the start of the fourth period, but their strategy of trying to slow the pace and control the ball yielded mixed results.

"I think we had the right intentions on trying to shorten the game," Hatcher said. "I think that we knew that if we were able to hang on the ball, it would limit their possessions. I would like to see us still be a little bit more aggressive, especially coming off the third quarter. We had a pretty good offensive quarter with 16 and a good defensive quarter giving up only five. I still would like to see us attack a little bit more."

Zane Edwards managed 17 points for Spring Garden, including eight in the second quarter. Erik Rule had 10 points before fouling out. Brady Ruark managed seven points.

For JCA, Noah Lee — the football quarterback who has signed with Jacksonville State — showed he's pretty good at basketball, too. He had 25 points, including eight in the fourth quarter. He played a long stretch with four fouls and avoided ever picking up his fourth.

He attempted 16 free throws and made 10.