Keller boys stop Carroll, seal playoff berth
By: By Bruce Unrue
KELLER -- Going into Tuesday night's regular-season finale, the Keller Indians were one of the few teams in District 6-5A that knew it would end up somewhere in the playoff picture -- win or lose.
The Indians avoided any suspense by eliminating Southlake Carroll with a 56-44 victory.
Keller (17-13, 8-6 in 6-5A) clinched a tie for third place in the district and one of the two remaining playoff spots.
The Indians will meet Justin Northwest to set the final seeding Friday at 7 p.m. at Keller Fossil Ridge. The team that loses that game will meet defending state champion Flower Mound Marcus in the first round.
Had Carroll (16-15, 6-8) won Tuesday, it would have forced a three-way district playoff to decide the fourth seed.
"That's not something we wanted to have to deal with," Keller coach Randall Durant said.
"Before the game, we talked about going out and taking care of business. I thought we came out focused in the beginning and executed our game plan."
Keller got off to a fast start, going up 11-2 early and leading 17-9 at the end of the first quarter.
The Dragons scored five quick points to open the second quarter on a Max Berman 3-pointer and a pair of free throws by Brett Jolly to cut to lead to 18-16. But the Indians scored 11 of the next 14 points to lead 29-19 at halftime.
Carroll rallied again in the third quarter to cut the lead to 29-26, but Keller answered with an 11-2 run to end the threat. Ryan Krueger led Keller with a 21 points, and Kenny Ferguson added 12. Steve Knowlton led Carroll with 10.