The Keota boys basketball team plays for a chance to go to state tonight, when they face Van Buren in the Sub-state final at Oskaloosa.

The Eagles are coming off another tough fought win over BGM on Thursday, where the offense seemed a little slow to get off the ground, but once it started working there was no stopping it.

Keota comes in scoring 64.7 points per game, but have been held well under that the last two games. Luke Lyle and Kolton Greiner still lead the way with over 19 points per game, but Nate Owen’s 10 points per game have become crucial important to the Eagles.

Van Buren is 20-3 and is coming off their 53-47 win over Pekin. They are scoring 72.5 points per game, and shooting just under 60 percent from the field and just under 40 from three-point range. They have five players scoring over 10 points per game, with their leading scorer Thomas Fitzsimmons scoring 15.5 points per game and making 80 percent of his shots from the floor, and Garrett Saunders comes in with 15 points per game, and a 55 percent shot from the field, and 46 percent shot from downtown.

Keota head coach Dan Stout said his team has seen Van Buren a few times before, so they should know what to expect.

“We’ve seen them play three or four times this year, so we know what they are going to do,” Stout said. “They’re big, they’ve got two big kids inside, they have a point guard that if you don’t guard him, he can really go off and shoot the ball well. I watched them play Danville, and that was one of the better high schools games I’ve seen all year long when those two played down at Van Buren, so we’ll have our work cut out for us, but like I told the kids in the locker room, you’re still playing in it and that is all we ask for, give yourselves the chance.”

This game is for a chance to go to Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, and you can hear all of the action right here, live from Oskaloosa on AM and FM KCII and KCIIradio.com under radio plus with pregame at 6:30 and tip-off at 7. The one to count on for today’s local sports coverage is AM and FM KCII and KCII radio.com.