It was literally a tall order taking down Nazareth when the Whitehall girls tangled with the Blue Eagles in Raymond J. Nunamaker Gymnasium on Tuesday night.

Nazareth’s size advantage was a match up problem all night for the Zephyrs as they struggled to contain Tessa Brulger and company as the Blue Eagles used their dominance inside to earn a 55-34 victory.

Nazareth’s starting five had a distinct advantage in length at every position, and that continued when their reserves came off the bench. Brugler and fellow post player Jessica Dornin combined for 26 points, leading the way as Nazareth won its sixth game of the season. With the loss, Whitehall drops to 2-2.

Brugler, who will be attending Bucknell University next fall, ruled the glass inside. She scored the 1,000th point of her career off a putback with just over two minutes left in the first quarter. The senior finished with 16 points, and was a constant figure at the charity stripe as the Zephs tried to slow her down.

Head coach Dwight Repsher knew that it was going to be a tough task containing their bigs inside. He also knew that playing a senior-laden team would compound the problem since he was rotating freshmen off the bench against a team that’s predicted to contend for a district title.

The Blue Eagles also disrupted their half-court offense in the first half, using double teams to create a number of turnovers. Jamie Youngkin, perhaps the tallest member of a tall Blue Eagle squad, used her long wing span to deflect the ball, creating fast break opportunities that were often converted by guard Madison Amy. That kept the Zephs from getting into any kind of offensive flow, scoring just four field goals in the half.

However, Repsher saw a distinct improvement after halftime.

“When we started making our cuts harder, and running the things the way we needed to run them, we were a lot better,” said Repsher.

Guard Alix Buskirk was one player taking the ball inside as she wound up with eight points.

Repsher also said that they worked on Nazareth’s trap in practice, but the game situations resulted in players trying to throw over the double team.

“Sometimes those habits are hard to break,” he said.

Brianna Smith provided a spark off the bench, hitting two treys en route to a team-high eight points, a total she shared with Buskirk.

Smith, a freshman, has been Vinnie Johnson-esque off the bench for the Zephyrs this season.

“She played well the last two games,” said Repsher, referring to their 42-40 win over Pleasant Valley on Friday night.

Repsher said in that game they were up 12 points to start the fourth quarter and then hung on for the victory.

“That’s a pretty good win for us,” he said.

Kylee Cunningham led the way with 13 points, while Rummel added nine and Smith and Buskirk each had six.