Two area girls basketball teams will battle in their season opener tonight. The Keota Eagles will entertain the Highland Huskies in a non-conference matchup. Highland won last year’s meeting, 66-18.

The Huskies return all-state performer Kelsey Hora, who ranked in the top five in the Southeast Iowa Super Conference North last season in points, assists, and steals. Hora’s 398 points scored ranked third in the league. Her 99 assists were the fourth most in the conference and one less than Cheyanne Adamson for the team lead. Hora stole 98 passes as a junior, the most among the conference’s returners. Aly Stokes is another first team all-conference player coming back for Highland. Stokes topped the league with 269 rebounds. She’s the only returning player to average a double-double in the SEISC North, recording 10.3 points and 11.2 rebounds per game as a freshman.

The Eagles are looking to replace two of their top three scorers from last year’s 1-21 campaign. Raigan Sprouse is returning for her senior year after leading the Eagles with 107 points scored. Grace Shemanski, Mariah Lyle, and Cortney Hyman graduated from Keota in May. The trio scored 199 points collectively for the Eagles last winter.

Tip off of the varsity game is set for 6:30 p.m. at Keota High School.