A father of five and involved in high school sports both as an official and coach, Calvin Hiatt passed in 2021 after an automobile accident.

NORTH POWDER — The schedule is set as 11 teams representing both boys and girls prepare to convene at Powder Valley High School for the annual Calvin Hiatt Memorial Basketball Tournament starting Thursday, Dec. 7.

Hiatt was a well-know coach and official who died Nov. 3, 2021, at the age of 42 in an automobile accident. Since then, Powder Valley has held the annual tournament in his honor.

This year’s tournament will hold even more significance to the teams in attendance and to the Hiatt family.

Hiatt’s widow has been diagnosed with cancer and has been forced to resign her career in education due to treatment schedules and the toll her illness is taking on her physical ability to continue working.

The couple were raising five children at the time of Calvin Hiatt’s death.

“This family has just gone through so much and now this,” Powder Valley’s athletic director, Brad Dunten, said. “We are proud the North Powder community can continue to come together for the family and to remember everything Calvin did for the sports communities around Eastern Oregon.”

Proceeds from the tournament go directly to the Hiatt family. In past tournaments, members of the Hiatt family have been in attendance.

“This tournament is so much more than just basketball,” Dunten said. “It is about teams making the trip to support a deserving family and honor everything Calvin did for an untold number of players throughout his life.”