Ten years ago, when Kelli Brewer was learning the basics of soccer, her big sister, Jennifer Ray, was there to teach her everything.

Two years ago, Jennifer Ray Lindsey was hired as an assistant coach at Vicksburg High and gave Kelli more advice.

Now it’s time for the final exam, and Lindsey is hoping she didn’t teach her little sister too much.

Soccer Playoffs

(B) WC vs. Olive Branch

Today, 5 p.m.

(G) Vicksburg vs.

Desoto Central

Today, 5 p.m.

(G) St. Al at Corinth

Today, 4:30 p.m.

Admission: $7

Brewer, a senior goal keeper, will lead the Vicksburg Missy Gators into the first round of the MHSAA Class 6A playoffs tonight against her older sister, now the coach at Desoto Central. Although the stakes are high, the siblings have had fun with the opportunity to face each other.

“We’ve had fun talking a little trash, about how I’m going to end her high school career and she says, ‘I’m going to send you into labor,” laughed Lindsey, who is nine months pregnant.

Lindsey, now 28, is 11 years older than Brewer but the two have remained close over the years. Lindsey played at Warren Central and often took time out after practice to work with her sister on fundamentals.

Lindsey later spent the 2007-08 season as an assistant coach at Vicksburg, where one of her duties was working with the team’s goal keepers. Brewer obviously took all of the lessons to heart. She’s spent the past two seasons as Vicksburg’s starting keeper. Even though they’re in different towns now, Brewer said the two talk often.

“She would always call me hers when I was little. She always cheers me up after games. She is my best friend,” Brewer said, before taking another playful jab. “It’s really going to be sad to have to take her out in the first round, but one of us has to lose.”

Because she spent so much of her life in Vicksburg, Brewer isn’t the only Missy Gator that Lindsey is familiar with. She watched many of the current Missy Gators play during their formative years, and coached them as well. Lindsey said that has given her a much better insight into her first-round opponent than many teams get.

“I’ve seen all these girls play since they were three or four years old. As far as that goes, I think I have an advantage because they haven’t seen us,” Lindsey said. “I’ve told them about Kelli. She likes to come out and play the ball. My girls are not used to playing against an aggressive goalie. We’re not going to be able to sit on the 18 and wait for our shot.”

While Lindsey was able to easily pull together a scouting report on Vicksburg, Warren County’s other playoff-bound teams didn’t have that luxury.

The St. Aloysius Lady Flashes (6-2-1) will head to Corinth (11-8) today for a first-round Class 1A-2A-3A game. St. Al didn’t clinch its first postseason berth until Friday night. The teams have never played in girls’ soccer.

Warren Central’s boys, meanwhile, didn’t find out their opponent until a series of tiebreakers were sorted out over the weekend. When it shook out, they drew a home game against Olive Branch in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs.

“It’s not bad because we’ve got a scouting report from some of their neighbor teams,” WC coach Greg Head said. “There’s usually a team we’ve both played, so we have a point of reference.”

No matter the scouting report, playoff soccer often comes down to teams that are both talented and healthy. Warren Central (14-5) is both.

The Vikings have outscored opponents 50-17 this season.

Eric Chappell, the 2009 Vicksburg Post Player of the Year, is one of four players with six goals or more. Junior goal keeper Jamal Brinnon has posted six shutouts. Chappell has scored 16 goals.

German exchange student Tim Hoeptner has scored nine goals, Swedish exchange student Jacob Pettersson has seven, and Matt Waddle has tallied six.

“We’re playing well and we don’t have many people hurt. We feel good about tomorrow,” Head said on Monday. “If we can keep everybody healthy, we’ll do OK.”

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Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com