Mason said she would love to see Boyle (5-3) get used to it. Her team went 1-3 a year ago in the first edition of this tournament - its only win was by forfeit - but she said she hopes for at least three wins this week in the 16-team event, which continues through Friday.
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And the Lady Rebels certainly got off on the right foot, squeezing the life out of Betsy Layne (0-7) with their pressure defense in the first quarter.
They got the better end of a game that included 59 turnovers, forcing Betsy Layne into 14 in the first quarter and 35 overall.
They also got quite a bit of playing time for younger, less experienced players, which will help keep the team fresh as long as possible this week.
"When you're going to play four straight days, you're hoping to get some rest and get those younger girls some experience," Mason said. "And with the style I play, I've got to have a bench."
Boyle plays a quarterfinal game at 8:30 p.m. today against North Laurel (6-4), which defeated Morgan County 60-42. A win in that game would set up a semifinal matchup Thursday night with Hancock County or Raceland.
"We've got a North Laurel team that played well today," Mason said. "We played to the level of our competition, but we've got to come out and play better tomorrow."
Surely Mason would love to see more of the defense she saw in the first quarter, when Betsy Layne scored the game's first basket and Boyle countered with 22 unanswered points, all resulting from turnovers.
Boyle's Sarah McCann scored seven of her game-high 13 points in the first period, Allie Hafley and Sarah Hall had five points each and reserve Hayley Hellyer had four.
Betsy Layne, a Floyd County school that won the 15th Region last season but was decimated by graduation losses, had 14 turnovers and only eight field-goal attempts in the first quarter.
It took more than three periods for the Lady Cats' shot total to catch up with their turnover total, but Mason said it didn't take that long for Boyle to let up on defense. "Our defense after the first quarter was atrocious," she said.
Boyle would score 35 points in all off Betsy Layne turnovers and might have had more if not for its own high turnover total (24).
The Lady Rebels missed their first 11 shots in the second quarter - they shot just 35 percent overall - allowing Betsy Layne to cut a 20-point deficit to nine before scoring the last five points of the first half and the first 10 of the second to rebuild a 43-19 advantage.
McCann, who hit all six of her shots from the field, had another six points in that run.
"Sarah played a solid game for us," Mason said.
Five other players scored between seven and nine points each for Boyle, which took its largest lead at 55-23 early in the fourth quarter.
Hafley had nine points, and freshman Karlie Neal, the younger sister of former Boyle standouts Kyla and Lyndsey Neal, nearly notched a double-double with eight points and a game-high nine rebounds.
Tori Alcorn had eight rebounds, Hall had seven and Hellyer and Kendra Ross had five each as Boyle outrebounded Betsy Layne 45-29.
BETSY LAYNE (0-7) - Kaitlin Lawson 9, Whitney Tackett 4, Megan Hamilton 5, Nicole Spurlock 2, Taylor Hott 2, Candice Meade 12, Lindsey Martin 2.
BOYLE (5-3) - Sarah Hall 7, Sarah McCann 13, Tori Alcorn 7, Allie Hafley 9, Amber Mills 3, Hayley Hellyer 7, Lauren Paynter 3, Kendra Ross 5, Karlie Neal 8.
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