Mercer plays in honor of late friends

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Published in Sports on January 23, 2014 2:24 PM

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kfine@newsargus.com

Lexi Mercer did a little bit of everything Wednesday evening -- except score the basketball. She did quite a lot of that.

The Rosewood sophomore collected a double-double -- 35 points, 16 rebounds -- during a 58-39 victory over Carolina 1-A Conference archrival Princeton in front of a raucous crowd.

The Eagles (13-1 overall, 6-0 Carolina) continued their best start since the 2007 season when Jerry Narron was the head coach.

But for Mercer, who single-handedly outscored the Bulldogs 24-20 in the first half, Wednesday's contest was about far more than any one person's performance on the hardwood.

It was about honoring Spenser Garrison and Malia Porter, the two Rosewood students who died earlier this month.

"We didn't know if we were really mentally ready at first, especially with the loss of our two friends, so we just tried to play for them and come out and execute well," she said.

And they did.

Time and time again, the Eagles forced Princeton to turn the ball over.

And after a competitive first quarter that saw Rosewood ahead by only four points, it outscored Princeton 17-4 in the second period. The Eagles led 37-20.

Head coach Rick Grantham was impressed with his players' effort -- especially given the fact that they had only practiced twice in the 11 days leading up to such a significant game.

"It's never been about effort with these kids," he said.

And he characterized Lexi as a "one-of-a-kind" and "elite talent."

But both he and his standout forward agreed that it was the team that delivered the win.

"They need her to be her all the time and she needs them to be them all the time," Grantham said.

"We all have faith in each other," Mercer added. "So we never have to rely on just one person."

Despite the loss, Princeton coach Marty Gurganus also sent a positive message to his team. Some nights, the shots just don't fall, he said.

But his players delivered a winning effort.

"I'm disappointed for the girls and for our fans. We came over feeling like we had been playing well and that we would play well tonight -- and we did, in spurts," he said. "But you can't dwell on a game like this. It's already over. You know, you've just got to give Rosewood credit for playing a good game and hitting their shots.

"I like the shots we got. We've been making those shots. If you're not making shots and the other team is, they normally win."

One member of the Bulldogs did, however, get shots to fall. Senior Savanna Massengill scored 26 points in the loss that dropped her team to 7-8 overall and 4-2 in conference play.