Heritage's boys and girls varsity basketball teams will hit the road this weekend to participate in a pair of holiday tournaments.

The boys' team will travel to Madison County to participate in the Northeast Georgia Invitational.

Heritage will tip off tournament action today at 4:30 p.m. against Jefferson County before closing the tournament on Tuesday against Madison County at 8:30 p.m.

The tournament will feature four teams in the boys' division, including the Patriots, Madison County High School, Jefferson County High School and Cedar Shoals.

"The tournament is going to give us some good competition early in the season," Heritage coach Ralph Denmark said. "I want to see how they are able to respond playing games close together and I want them to play a game when they are out of their normal routine.

"It's going to help prepare us for the state tournament and will give us some experience when we reach that point," he said.

The tournament will be held at Madison County Middle School.

The Lady Patriots will also compete in a holiday tournament beginning this weekend at Parkview High School.

Heritage will participate in the 2013 Tip Off Classic hosted by the Panthers. The tournament features 16 teams and two brackets. Heritage will compete in the white bracket against Mountain View, Wesleyan, Westlake, Sandy Creek, Lovett and Northside/Warner Robins.

Other teams participating in the tournament include North Gwinnett, Hillgrove, Douglas County, St. Pius, Tucker, Peachtree Ridge, Osborne and Parkview.

"Parkview has some absolutely awesome teams," Lady Patriots coach Lauren Chambers said. "It's been a great tournament over the years and we wanted to challenge ourselves there this year against some great teams that we don't normally see. We wanted to get the girls prepared in a tournament setting against high caliber opponents. It's going to be great exposure for them.

"We want to see where we stack up with the best and see if we can reach our goals against them," she said. "We want to see where we are as a team."

The Lady Patriots will open play today at 9 a.m. against the Mountain View Bears, with Tip-Off Classic games also scheduled for Monday and Tuesday of next week.