Lady Indians look to win out, hang onto 1st place

By Louie Horvath

Special to The Keller Citizen

Keller girls basketball got the upset it needed on Friday, as the Lady Indians took down Southlake Carroll, the previously undefeated and odds-on favorite to win district, 42-41 in Southlake to pull into a tie for the league as of press time, pending the team's game against Saginaw.

Now, arguably, the real work begins for the Lady Indians.

They cannot afford to slip up and drop a game in their last five games if they want a share of the district title, as Carroll will be heavily favored in all of their remaining games.

"Last year when we beat them, we weren't tied with them, but we played strong after we beat them," Keller coach Doug Sporrer said. "We knew that was the game we had to have, and obviously we have a chance to tie for the district title."

Keller beat Carroll for the second time in as many years, but unlike last season, they are now tied with the Lady Dragons for the district lead, making a split title a realistic possibility for Keller if they win out.

"I told them on Thursday, if we lose (to Carroll), we've got five to play, if we win, we've got five to play," Sporrer said. "That being said, that was the biggest game of the year."

If they can achieve it, the budding rivalry between these two teams will only get larger.

"Some of those kids have been playing against each other since third, fourth, fifth grade," Sporrer said. "The kids know each other pretty well from summer ball, and they're five miles away so I'm sure they see each other in the movie theater. It's a good rivalry, we had a good crowd there and it was a lot of fun. It's been back and forth for the last couple years."

Keller's last four games are against the three teams residing in the bottom of District 7-5A. This stretch begins against Justin Northwest on Friday.

That said, after scoring the upset, Sporrer knows that now the target is fixed on the Lady Indians' backs.

"At this point, no matter who we play, now everybody is going to be gunning to beat us just like they are gunning to beat Carroll," Sporrer said before Tuesday's game against Coppell. "The target's on our back a little more. That's always a scary thing. We're trying to keep the kids focused, but they have a lot to play for now."

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