High School Sports

JACKSONVILLE — Friday was business as usual for Spring Garden.

The Panthers won their seventh consecutive Class 1A girls Northeast Regional championship, defeating Gaston 60-46. Senior Paige Anderson was chosen the regional most valuable player for the third consecutive tournament.

Senior Bridget Parris and freshman Tara Mullinax joined Anderson on the all-tournament team.

Spring Garden (34-0) will play Central Regional champion St. Jude at 9 a.m. Monday at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Complex. St. Jude defeated Sunshine 59-52 Thursday.

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Video: Spr. Garden vs. Gaston Slideshow: NE Regional B'ball Tournament Day 4

Afterward Spring Garden's victory Friday, coach Ricky Austin called his four seniors – Anderson, Parris, Olivia Mobley and Carly Mitchell – "a special group."

"This bunch has kept us so focused," he said. "They haven't let us get too high, and they haven't let us get too low."

Spring Garden led 28-13 at halftime despite a 2-for-10 shooting performance from the floor by the normally consistent Anderson.

"I didn't show up in the first half," she said. "I'm glad the rest of the team did."

Veteran Gaston coach Tonya Bogle planned her defense to deny Anderson open 3-point looks, hoping to create steals and turnovers by forcing her to drive to the basket. Bogle said the strategy worked for a half.

"We just didn't execute on the other end to match it."

Bogle's Bulldogs were 4 of 21 from the floor in the first half, 0 of 8 from outside the arc.

"Their defense took our shots away," Bogle said. "We forced a lot of shots and didn't make them."

Austin said defense was Spring Garden's No. 1 priority entering its fourth meeting with the Bulldogs this season. Stopping Jessica Wilburn, Gaston's 5-foot-8 junior power forward, was a big concern because Wilburn's size and strength created a matchup problem for the Panthers.

Austin went to the shorter, lighter Mobley to play Wilburn man-to-man, and others sagged back on her. Wilburn was 0 of 6 from the floor — 0 of 4 from long range — in the first half and scored one point.

"Olivia just did an awesome job," Austin said. "It all started with her."

Mobley, who was Spring Garden's homecoming queen and is nicknamed "Sunshine" because of her ever-present smile off the court, maintains a different persona on the floor.

"I just have to get physical with her," she said of defending Wilburn. "I try to tell myself that she's not that much taller than me. I deny her out on the perimeter. My quickness helps me a lot. That's my strength."

Said Wilburn, an all-tournament choice, "Every time we play them, I get frustrated."

Noted Gaston high post player Lori Pagilone, also an all-tournament pick, "I see Jessica open, and when I pass it, it's not there."

Despite its woeful shooting, Gaston trailed only 18-11 with less than three minutes to go in the first half before Mullinax went on a 10-point scoring spree.

With 2:23 left, she nailed an uncontested 3-point basket from deep in the left corner. Forty seconds later, she hit two free throws. With just more than a minute to play, she deflected a Gaston pass to Mobley, who passed to Mullinax for a layup.

With 20 seconds remaining, Mullinax ended the first-half scoring with another 3-pointer, from the same spot she hit her first trey.

"Tara has played all five positions for us this year," Austin said. "She showed up against Ragland Tuesday. The whole team challenged her to do it again."

In the first four minutes of the third quarter, Spring Garden built its biggest margin of the game at 40-18. Anderson got the hot hand, scoring eight of the 12 Panther points.

Gaston responded with a 10-0 run. Bogle felt the Bulldogs were finally following their game plan, slowing the pace and looking for good shots.

Then, "We just stopped doing what we were supposed to do," Bogle lamented.

Spring Garden closed the third quarter with a 7-0 run, capped by Anderson's only 3-pointer of the game just before the buzzer, and led 47-28.

Anderson scored 24 points in the second half and ended with 34.

Mullinax finished with 14 points. Parris had six points and eight rebounds. Shelby Malone also had eight rebounds.

Pagilone played all 32 minutes and was the only Bulldog in double digits with 12 points.