By MICAH SATTERLY

Contributing Writer

Mercer County’s first home game since Jan. 2 was a rematch of the 2017 girls’ state championship game between the Titans and Franklin County.

The results of Thursday’s game were like the results of the previous meeting, as Mercer County rolled to a 72-37 victory over Franklin County.

“It was good to come home and we had a good crowd,” Mercer head coach Chris Souder said.

The Titans did not disappoint. Coach Souder was worried that Franklin County was going to be a “trap game or a dangerous game” considering they are back-to-back state runner-ups and 11th Region champions for the past three years.

After the first quarter, Mercer County led 17-8 and with four minutes at the end of the first half, Mercer County kicked it into gear and extended their lead to 41-13 at halftime and never looked back.

The Titans had balanced scoring across the board with Faith Lake leading all scorers with 17 points, hitting four three-pointers for the Titans.

A running clock went into effect in the fourth quarter as starters were pulled and got some much-needed rest as Mercer prepares for the Louisville Invitational Tournament this weekend.

The Titans will face Butler on Friday evening at the Louisville Invitational Tournament for their first game.

“We’re really big on not looking ahead and we’ve got tough roads ahead,” Souder said. “We’re just going to focus on Butler now and I didn’t want to hear anything about the LIT until this game was over.”

Souder reached a milestone in recording his 500th victory on Jan. 20 against Miami Country Day.

He said he was “blessed” and expressed how much it meant to him to not only coach some of his family but to also have his family by his side through it all.

“My daughter played for me, my wife is involved and has been right by my side the whole time, my son is on the bench with me, and I’ve coached four nieces,” Souder said. “It’s a special place getting most of my wins here.”

Mercer County improves to 20-2 on the season and Franklin County falls to 12-10.