Athens High School will be the site of some quality boys basketball beginning today, as the Golden Eagles host the sixth annual Pepsi Challenge.

The holiday tournament goes today through Saturday, with games being played at Athens Arena. The participating teams are Athens, Austin, Decatur, Huntsville, James Clemens, Grissom, West Limestone, Bob Jones, Decatur Heritage, Madison Academy and St. John Paul II.

“Some very good teams and really good players are coming,” Athens boys basketball coach Stace Tedford said. “The good thing about the tournament is we set it up as a round-robin and everybody is guaranteed two games. And nobody plays somebody that’s already on their schedule. It gives everybody two games right before Christmas against teams they’re not going to see the rest of the year.”

The tournament rotates among Austin, Decatur and Athens. This is the second time Athens has hosted the tournament.

Games begin at 4:30 p.m. today with Huntsville taking on Decatur Heritage. Bob Jones faces off against Madison Academy at 6 p.m., with Decatur facing West Limestone at 7:30.

Friday’s games also begin at 4:30 p.m., with Decatur Heritage and James Clemens facing off. Athens will host St. John Paul II at 6, while Austin will take on Grissom at 7:30.

Saturday has a full afternoon and night of games, beginning at 1:30 p.m. when Decatur takes on James Clements.

West Limestone and Bob Jones face off at 3 p.m., while Grissom and Madison Academy tangle at 4:30. Austin takes on St. John Paul II at 6, and Athens closes the tournament by hosting Huntsville at 7:30.

Tickets for the tournament are $6 per day, and concessions will be sold as usual.

“We’ve got some of the same teams coming as before, and we’ve also got some new teams coming this year,” Tedford said. “It’s really going to be a good tournament for everybody.”