It's the holiday season, which means that basketball teams hit the road this time of year to test their skills outside the Lehigh Valley Conference.

Bethlehem Catholic may need some time outside of the area to reflect, as the Hawks dropped to a surprising 1-4 on the season, following losses to Freedom and Conwell- Egan last week.

Head coach Mike Frew and company will travel to York for the Robert A. Griffin tournament on December 27-28 with their only win of the season coming in last Friday's 61-57 overtime win over Easton.

The Hawks are the defending champions of the tournament after knocking off York Catholic in the finals a year ago.

This time around, Becahi opens with York Catholic and hope to repeat as tournament spoilers, as well as pick up some vital wins in the process.

"It's a fun time of year for our players and staff to get away for a couple days," said Frew of the tournament which also includes Southwestern, as well as host York Suburban. "The tournament is also for a real good cause, as all the proceeds go to the York County Special Olympics.

"We just hope we can have similar success as we did a year ago."

Liberty (3-1) travels to Ridley for a similar Friday-Saturday setup when they open their tournament against Philadelphia Catholic league opponent Cardinal O'Hara.

Ridley and Interboro square off in the other contest.

"Ridley is a District One school and we always look at that as the best basketball in the state," said head coach Chad Landis. "This is when you can really test yourself as a team to see where you compare."

Freedom, who topped Liberty 59-53 last week to improve to 3-1, travel to State College to play against the hosts this Friday night. Loyalsock and Upper Darby square off in the first game of the double-header.

Head coach Joe Stellato hopes his team can continue their hot start to the season.

"We were at Coatesville last year for our tournament and we're trying something new this time," said Stellato. "We're all looking forward to the opportunity to get on the court."