The District 11 basketball tournament will get underway this weekend with all three Bethlehem area teams partaking in the action.

Freedom and Liberty start off with tough action in the 6A tournament, coming in as the eighth and seventh seeds respectively.

The Patriots (10-12) are matched up with top-seed and East Penn Conference champion Parkland (18-7) in Saturday’s opening round of the tournament when they play at 4 p.m. at Easton Area Middle School.

This will be the first meeting between both schools this season, as the Pates figure to be heavy underdogs in the contest.

The winner of that matchup would move to the semifinals on March 2 against either fourth-seeded Nazareth or fifth-seeded Emmaus.

In the bottom half of the bracket, Liberty (11-11) takes on second-seeded Pocono Mountain West (17-4) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Pleasant Valley. This will also be the first matchup between both teams this season. The winner moves on to play either third-seeded Northampton (17-6) or sixth-seeded Allen (14-8).

The date for the 6A finals and consolation finals are slated for March 5, as three teams will qualify for the PIAA tournament.

In 4A, Wilson’s Colonial League Championship puts them as the top-seed, which unfortunately means Bethlehem Catholic would see Central Catholic before the finals, as the Hawks (16-6) come in as the third-seed and play Northwestern (12-11) on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Catasauqua.

A win over the Tigers would pit them against the Vikings (21-4) in the semifinals on March 5.

The Hawks and Vikings met on Dec. 17 with Central winning 39-29 in a game where the Hawks had several key injuries. Both schools have combined to win the last five 4A titles.

Wilson (18-6) gets a bye with the top-seed and awaits the winner of fourth-seeded Jim Thorpe (16-8) and fifth-seed North Schuylkill (12-10). The championship and consolation date for 4A is March 4. Three teams advance to the PIAA tournament from the 4A bracket.