There likely won’t be a free seat in the gym Friday night in Orrville, when Keith welcomes county rival Selma in each team’s season opener.

The basketball games start at 5:30 p.m. with the junior varsity game and figure to run well into the evening. The varsity girls’ game will be played next, followed by the varsity boys.

“The timing of the game is what makes it a special game. We can always count on opening up with Selma High the first game of the season,” said Keith boys basketball coach Tommy Tisdale. “That kind of signifies the tip off of basketball season here in the county.”

Most games between Keith and Selma always tend to be close, but that’s been even more true for season openers. The last time Selma traveled to Orrville to begin the year was 2014. In that game, Quentavious Davis made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Saints the win.

Last year, John Pettway rallied Keith in the fourth quarter for a come-from-behind win at Selma.

“You are kind of stepping into the unknown with Selma under new leadership.  I’ve seen coach [Ronald] Lane’s work at Wallace. I respect him and sent him a player or two,” Tisdale said. “It’s a new season for us and it’s been that way, next man up, next group. I’m excited to see how we answer the test and how we perform on Friday night.”

Both boys teams enter the year with a lot of unanswered questions. Keith reached the 1A state semifinals last season, but lost Pettway to graduation. He’s now at South Alabama.

On the Selma side, the Saints are looking to bounce back from a subpar year. Friday’s game will be the first with Lane at the helm.

“At one time, basketball was that one thing that the community knew — that we were going to have a knockout basketball team,” Lane said. “We were going to be competing for regionals and state championships, so our thing right now is to get the pride back, the hard work and the things that made this school one of the most feared schools in the state when it came to basketball.”

The girls contest also figures to be competitive. Selma returns its three leading scorers from last season in Jamya Smith, Jacquetta Dailey and Areyana Williams, while Keith returns Shatavia Moore.