GAME STORY: Class 5A Lady Eagles use size, depth to rally for win at 3A Merkel

MERKEL — What had the early look of a rout, became a case study in the advantages large schools can have over smaller ones in Tuesday’s 56-45 win for the Abilene girls at Merkel. 

Samia Cooper scored 20 points and Taryn Moore added 10 to lead Abilene (9-6), which rallied from an early 13-point deficit with a combination of size and depth to hand the Lady Badgers (10-4) a loss on their home floor. 

Merkel, which led 11-0 by the 5:14 mark of the first quarter and 18-5 with 0:59 left in the period, was led by Brooklynn Fulfer with 18 points and Jaedyn Lee with 12.