SPRING GARDEN – The road back to Jacksonville State University’s Pete Mathews Coliseum for the Northeast Regional Tournament hasn’t been an easy one for Spring Garden.

Injuries and health issues plagued the Lady Panthers even before the season began, but slowly, they’ve built things back up to the form Austin expects of his teams.

During Monday night’s Class 1A Northeast Sub-Regional home game against eighth-ranked Skyline, the fourth-ranked Lady Panthers raised the level even higher. They connected on nine first-half 3-pointers, and sank 13 of 26 treys in the game en route to a 75-41 blowout of the Lady Vikings.

Not surprisingly, the catalysts for the victory were seniors Madison Sides and Tykeah Rogers — or, as Austin referred to the dynamic duo, his Batman and Robin.

Sides scored 23 points. She connected on 7 of 10 3-pointers and also had four assists.

Meanwhile, Rogers pounded the paint for 29 points and 16 rebounds. She hit 9 of 14 shots from the floor and also connected on 11 of 12 free-throw attempts. Rogers also had five assists.

“They really were awesome tonight,” Austin said. “That’s the best combo game I’ve seen them have together. They just had a great connection with each other.

“You hear things about Steph Curry, Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Kobe Bryant, how much time they put in outside of game time. Our boys had practice at 9 o’clock (Monday) morning, and Madison and Tookie (Rogers) were already on the gym floor when I got here. They were in here working out shooting. We had practice at 4 today, and they had the team here at 2 o’clock. They were eating lunch together and watching a movie. They’re just special. That’s the two who are leading this team, and this team is playing hard for them.”

The Sides-Rogers connection guided Spring Garden (27-4) to its 18th straight victory and its 26th Northeast Regional game. The Lady Panthers are 21-4 at Pete Mathews Coliseum with nine regional championships. They’ll face Talladega County Central on Thursday at 3 p.m.

Talladega County Central defeated Faith Christian 47-41 in other Northeast Sub-Regional action on Monday.

“I think we’re playing with a lot of confidence right now,” Sides said. “I think our coaches have done an excellent job getting us prepared. They’ve been to scout Skyline several times. The past few days, all we’ve talked about is how we needed to guard them. We’ve got to guard the shot. We’ve got to guard the drive. We’ve got to guard the dribble drive. I think they had us very well prepared.”

Rogers echoed Sides’ statements.

“At shoot around today and practice yesterday, we focused on us,” she said. “It was more about what we should do in order to stop them. We just focused more on our side more than their side.

“Tonight I did a lot better with facing up and figuring out where I needed to go. I knew that if they sagged in, I’d have that kick out, and Madison was the one who was usually open. They would sag off of her.”

Spring Garden quickly jumped out to an 8-0 advantage, including a pair of treys from Kerstin Bryant and Savannah Dempsey. The Lady Panthers finished the quarter with five 3-pointers and a 23-7 advantage. That lead swelled to 45-22 at halftime, capped off by a Sides 3-pointer before the buzzer.

Sides had 17 points and five 3-pointers by halftime. Meanwhile, Rogers had already tossed in 16 points by the break.

“When we had senior night here (against Jacksonville on Feb. 5), I told them everyone’s sentimental and all that, but that night wasn’t that important to me. I told them that sub-region game, let’s make sure we get that game on our home court. That’s your last one in this gym, so make sure that court remembers you,” Austin said. “There were a few times tonight where I just sat back and enjoyed the game. I just enjoyed watching those two play tonight.”

Dempsey delivered 12 points, all on 3-pointers, to go along with seven rebounds and three assists for Spring Garden.

Caity Ledwell led the Lady Vikings (15-11) with 18 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Madison Kennamer came away with 11 points, including three treys. Haley Rollins finished with six points.

Austin is excited to see what his team can do later this week in Jacksonville.

“We’re going with some confidence now,” he said. “Two weeks ago I was chewing on them pretty hard, but they’ve responded like leaders are supposed to. They’re responded like a team who wants to do something more. They’re forcing some teams to play their style. I’m really proud of what we’re seeing. That was a good performance by them tonight. I’m proud of us tonight.”