Classic, Memorial play together at Big Bend
Courtesy photo<br> Odessa's Ryan Floch is honored by Big Bend through a scholarship geared toward helping certain certain students that apply to the school. Floch died in 2003 during a boating accident.
MOSES LAKE — Two events with the same purpose of bringing basketball fans together take place at Big Bend Community College.
Due to scheduling issues, this year the Big Bend Community College Basic American Foods Basketball Classic and the Ryan Floch Memorial Basketball Tournament will be held on the same weekend starting Friday at 4 p.m. before wrapping up the next evening at the Peter D. DeVries Activities Center.
According to Big Bend men’s basketball coach Mark Poth this is the first time that both events will take place on the same weekend.
This year the Classic will celebrate its 20th anniversary while the Floch event is in its fifth year of competition.
“Traditionally it has been a four team men’s classic,” Poth said. “This year we have Davenport High School playing Riverside Christian High School in boys and girls varsity games on Friday. The reason is because Davenport high school contacted us and we felt it would be a great opportunity to enable high school student-athletes and their fans an opportunity to see and visit our campus. They can also see a junior college basketball game.
“We also felt it would be the most accommodating date for both Big Bend and Odessa High School.”
Odessa is where Ryan and Drew Floch graduated from in the late 1990s.
The two were involved in a fatal fishing accident in August of 2001 claiming the Floch brothers, their cousin James Starr, and grandfather Thomas Starr.
“That family was a big part of the community for a long time and were well respected,” Odessa High School athletic director Larry Webber said. “The community still remembers them and what they meant to us. That Big Bend recognizes that and put this together to help these kids shows that they recognize how good these people were.”
Gate proceeds and donations go to the Ryan Floch Memorial Scholarship Fund.
Additionally, the games provide Odessa fans the opportunity to watch high school and college basketball at the same venue during the same evening.
The memorial is organized to raise scholarship funds to go toward an incoming Big Bend student, according to Poth.
Originally the scholarship was founded to go toward a small school athlete with flexibility to that requirement, Poth said.
Donations are accepted in Drew Floch’s name for the BBCC Foundation Scholarship awarded each year to a graduate of Odessa High School.
Ryan Floch was a basketball standout at Odessa High School, and went on to play for the Vikings from 1999 to 2001.
“Over the years, our annual Viking Classic has been a wonderful opportunity for sports fans to see some great basketball action,” Big Bend athletic director and women’s basketball coach Preston Wilks said. “The college action will be a great watch, and this year we will see former players from BBCC and Walla Walla Community College form a team called the Columbia Basin Stars. In recent years, the alumni teams have provided thrilling action for the fans by giving the college squads close games.”
Poth believes the multiple games format can only mean the best ticket in town for someone looking for something to do this weekend.
“Saturday’s games might be the only place in the Basin where a fan can see a men and women’s college game and a boy and girl’s high school game in the same venue,” Poth said. “Also it provide a chance to watch a lot of great basketball and an opportunity to pay tribute to Ryan Floch who exemplified the meaning of a true student-athlete.”
Webber noted that if referees are used from Odessa, they donate their pay for their work to go toward the fund, approximately $85 for two games.
Costs to attend the Big Bend Classic are $4 for middle and high school students and senior citizens, and $5 for adults.
Younger children are admitted free.
For the Floch Memorial games any students with an ASB card from the participating schools are admitted free,
The schedule for the weekend consists of: Friday, Davenport girls take on Riverside Christian at 4 p.m., followed by the boys teams from each school at 5:30 p.m., Big Bend men against Grays Harbor Community College at 7 p.m., and Walla Walla Community College against Columbia Basin Stars at 8:45 p.m.
On Saturday, Grays Harbor men will take on Walla Walla at noon, followed by Big Bend’s women against Clackamas Community College at 2 p.m. and the Big Bend men against Columbia Basin Stars at 4 p.m.
Walla Walla is a regular participant in the event.
Odessa High School will wrap up the night with a girls game against Mansfield at 6 p.m. and then a boys game between both schools for a scheduled 7:30 p.m. start.
“This is not only a great opportunity for Odessa and the Floch Memorial but it also gives Big Bend a chance to be shown to more potential college students in the area,” Poth said.
For information on the Ryan Floch Memorial Basketball Games, or to support scholarship funds in memory of Ryan or Drew Floch, contact the BBCC Foundation Office at 793-2004.