Timber Creek and Central face big outings, looking for playoff spots

By Randy Sachs

Special to The Keller Citizen

In the girls soccer District 4-5A playoff race, it’s a fight to the finish.

Keller has its spot in second place behind leader Carroll, but Timber Creek and Central have big games ahead of them.

Some of the biggest games were played Monday, with results unavailable prior to the print deadline, as Central was facing Richland and Timber Creek was taking on Northwest.

While Timber Creek has a slight lead over Central in the standings in third place, Central entered the week occupying the fourth and final playoff spot.

A win over Northwest for Timber Creek would have clinched another playoff appearance for the Lady Falcons, a team which has made the playoffs every year of their varsity existence. But, this would be their first appearance in their new Class 5A division.

For Central, coming off a 2-0 win over Fossil Ridge last Friday, a game in which Hope Smith (Kristina Shulz assist) and Abbie Aldrich (Carrington Elliott assist) scored for the Lady Chargers, the next few games are critical, according to the standings and head coach Ray Martinez.

After the Richland game, Central still has Haltom on March 19 and Northwest to contend with on March 22.

“We’re in fourth now, and a win over Richland would really help, but depending on how Timber Creek does against Northwest, it could separate us enough to seal it,” Martinez said.

Timber Creek still has the opportunity to nudge Keller from second place should the Indians falter and the Lady Falcons win out, which would include a head-to-head matchup with Keller. The other remaining game for Timber Creek is with Fossil Ridge.

For Timber Creek junior Cat Sebazco there’s a little pride on the line, as well as a playoff position.

“We don’t want to have the ‘little sister’ reputation,” she said of the being the newest Keller ISD school into the 5A district.

“We’ll use that as motivation,” said the Falcons’ leading scorer with 14 goals and 7 assists heading into Monday’s game. “We came in strong and caught some others off-guard.”

Both Timber Creek and Central will allow the teams to take time off after Monday’s games, providing some emotional and physical respites this deep into a competitive season.

Many girls will pick up their select league play during spring break, so the time off is a relative issue.

“If we clinch it Monday night, I’ll relax a little bit about giving them the time off,” Timber Creek head coach Mike King said on Sunday evening.

In another big game played on Monday, Keller was taking on Carroll. The Lady Indians will then have their game against Timber Creek on March 19 and conclude the regular season with Richland.

Fossil Ridge was playing Haltom on Monday, then has a shot at Carroll on March 19 before closing out the season with Timber Creek.

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