After a string of three wins, the Merkel Badgers's good fortune finally ran out on Friday. They took a 46-29 bruising from Valley. While losing is never fun, Merkel can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Texas basketball rankings (they are ranked 312th, while Valley is ranked 101st).
It was another big night for Reese Cruse, who scored 12 points along with 4 steals for Valley. That makes it four consecutive games in which Cruse has scored at least 25% of Valley's points. The team also got some help courtesy of Trinity Schlueter, who scored 8 points along with 3 steals.
Merkel's loss dropped their record down to 5-2. As for Valley, the win was the eighth in a row for them, bringing their record for this year to 8-2.
Merkel will be playing at home against Abilene at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Abilene will be looking to extend their current five-game winning streak. Valley will be staying on the road on Friday to face off against Westbrook at 5:00 p.m. on December 1st. Westbrook is coming into the match hot, having won their last three games.