Did they ever.
The Scotties went on a 14-2 scoring run to lead 21-13 after one period and never looked back.
Rally began with Boyle foul trouble
The rally began when Boyle senior point guard Allie Hafley, the team's leading scorer, went to the bench with her second foul with 2:19 to play in the first period. She returned midway in the second stanza but by that time the damage was already done.
"We didn't have anyone step up and want to handle the ball with Allie on the bench," Boyle coach Judie Mason said. "Even when we had the lead early, I didn't think we had any spark about us. I never thought we were in the game mentally. Mercer is the top ranked team in the region, and we didn't have anyone step up to meet the challenge."
Sophomore reserve Meredith Cinnamon was an immediate force for the Scotties (16-7) when she entered the game in the second quarter. She scored nine points and had four rebounds in the period and Mercer increased its lead to 41-27 at the intermission.
Cinnamon grabbed a game-high eight rebounds as Mercer outrebounded the Rebels 41-28.
"We did give up some second and third shots," Mason said. "(Mercer) shot the lights out and played well, but they didn't do anything we didn't expect them to. The difference was we didn't handle it very well."
Both teams shot 51 percent from the field. The difference, was Mercer got 16 more shots (67-51) at the basket and forced the Rebels (15-8) into 21 turnovers.
Souder started a pair of sophomores (Mackenzie Carey and Hayley Spivey) to go along with seniors Sabrina Manning, Chrystal Claunch and Chelsea Goodman. He likes the way his younger players are responding to game conditions.
"They are really starting to come around and are feeding off the play of our seniors," he said. "We are doing a nice job of penetrating and then kicking the ball back out, and they are beginning to knock down shots. It's a whole lot easier to hit a wide open shot instead of having someone constantly in your face."
Carey scored seven points while Goodman added six as Mercer hit 12 of 20 shots and opened a 67-40 advantage after three periods.
"I like the way we are playing right now," Souder said. "We started playing well at Wayne County and we told the kids after the game that we needed to build on that win. We seemed to be doing that."
BOYLE (15-8) — Allie Hafley 19, Hayley Hellyer 13, Toriu Alcorn 12, Sarah Hall 8, Amber Mills 5, Kendra Ross 4.
MERCER (16-7) — Chelsea Goodman 18, Sabrina Manning 17, Chrystal Claunch 16, Meredith Cinnamon 11, Mackenzie Carey 10, Hannah Barnett 5, Hayley Spivey 4, Tracy McLain 2, Brittany Kendrick 2, Loran Crowell 2.
