Quinton starts basketball season, Kinta also in action tonight

Quinton opens its basketball season at home against Arkoma tonight. Quinton's girls basketball team returns four of its five starters from last year and its leaders in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals. The Savages are led by Macey McKee and Hanna Pitman, who averaged 12.9 and 12 points per game, respectively, in 2015-16.

After making the state tournament the year before, Quinton went 21-6 and was eliminated in the first game of the area playoffs in 2015-16. Quinton coach Tara Satterfield and players expressed a deep desire to make another state tournament run.

The Savages will see a reasonable opening opponent in Arkoma, which they beat 57-10 in the second game of the season last year. Arkoma went 7-18, reaching the second game of regionals.

Quinton's boys basketball team starts anew under first-year head coach Darren Harber, who previously was an assistant at Wilburton. The boys in green and white return three of their top four scorers, including Tristan Etchison, who led the team with 11.1 points per game last year. Quinton went 8-15 and was eliminated in the first game of districts last season. Quinton looks to improve with an inside-out approach on offense that balances scoring.

Last year, Quinton beat Arkoma 62-46. The Mustangs are expected to improve after finishing 13-12 in 2015-16.

Also, in area basketball, Kinta hosts Bokoshe. Kinta's boys basketball team is 4-0 and ranked No. 1 in Class B. After going winless in 2015-16, Bokoshe has started strong, winning its first two games by double digits, including a 55-44 win against Cameron on Nov. 29. Last year, Kinta won 86-43 at Bokoshe.

Kinta's girls basketball team is 3-1 and ranked 17th in Class B. Bokoshe, which went 17-9 last year and reached the first game of the area playoffs, enters 1-1 after losing 55-41 to Cameron on Nov. 29. Kinta lost 57-45 at Bokoshe last year.

For both matchups, the girls games start at 6:30 p.m. and the boys games start at 8 p.m.