Fort Vancouver’s basketball tournament has new name in memory of former student

This Myron Lawrence Sportsmanship Trophy will be awarded to the player who best displays great sportsmanship at the Myron Lawrence Memorial Tournament, hosted by Fort Vancouver High School this week. Photo courtesy Ben Jatos

The Fort Vancouver Holiday Invitational is now known as the Myron Lawrence Memorial Tournament

Paul Valencia
ClarkCountyToday.com

He was a joy to be around, a favorite student for many of the teachers, and a great friend to his peers at Fort Vancouver High School.

That is how Myron Lawrence will be remembered.

His name will now be part of Clark County’s annual high school basketball tournament at Fort Vancouver.

Previously known as the Fort Vancouver Holiday Invitational, it is now the Myron Lawrence Memorial Tournament. There are two eight-team brackets for the boys, and there is a four-team round-robin format for the girls. The event starts Wednesday.

Lawrence, a 2019 graduate, passed away in March of 2020.

“He was just a ray of light. He’d light up any room he was in,” said Ben Jatos, tournament director.

Fort Vancouver boys basketball coach James Ensley stands next to the championship trophy for this year’s Myron Lawrence Memorial Tournament. Previously known as the Fort Vancouver Holiday Invitational, the Clark County-based high school basketball tournament has been renamed in honor of a former Fort Vancouver student and athlete. Photo courtesy Ben Jatos

Jatos, a teacher at Fort Vancouver, had Lawrence as a student.

Lawrence played football and basketball for the Trappers, too.

“He was kind to everybody. He had a hug for everybody. Male, female, adult, peer, it didn’t matter, you were getting a hug from Myron,” Jatos said. “He was the nicest kid.”

Last year, a player on one of the teams at the tournament reminded all those with Fort Vancouver ties to Lawrence. Jatos and other tournament administrators made up a sportsmanship award for that player, and named it after Lawrence.

That sportsmanship award has a new trophy this year, it is still named for Lawrence, but also the entire tournament is to be played in Lawrence’s memory, as well.

This tournament started in 2018 and has had its share of challenges. There was no tournament in 2020 during the pandemic, and then an ice storm in 2021 messed up the schedule.

But the tournament continues because of its mission: To create a positive association with Fort Vancouver High School.

“We don’t have the world’s best reputation,” Jatos acknowledged. “We try to put on a first-class tournament.”

With that, the reputation of the school is improving.

“I know it’s working because it’s so easy to schedule now,” Jatos said. “First couple of years, it was hard to get teams to bite.”

Spend three days at Fort Vancouver High School?

“Word of mouth has been positive, feedback has been great, and now we have to turn away teams,” Jatos said. “We fill up really fast. I will probably have next year’s teams locked in by May.”

One boys bracket will feature Mountain View, Union, and Fort Vancouver from Clark County, going up against Weed, Calif., North Thurston, Walla Walla, Benson from Portland, and Puyallup.

The other boys bracket will include Hudson’s Bay, Columbia of White Salmon, and Heritage from Southwest Washington, along with Eagle Point of Oregon, Sunnyside, Juanita, Sandpoint of Idaho, and Kingston.

All teams will play three games in three days, with trophies for the champions to be handed out Friday night.

The girls will feature a four-team, round-robin get-together, with Fort Vancouver hosting River Ridge, Kingston, and Ashland of Oregon. The three tournaments are held at Fort Vancouver High School and McLoughlin Middle School. For schedules and more information on the tournament, go to: https://sites.google.com/vansd.org/fortvancouverinvitational/2023

The Fort Vancouver Holiday Invitational is now known as the Myron Lawrence Memorial Tournament

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