SALEM, Va. – The Adam Ward Classic is underway for 2020, with two days of competition in games Friday and Saturday at Salem High School.
Ward was killed in a shooting while on assignment for WDBJ7 in 2015. This is the fourth year the school has honored his legacy with the basketball tournament and all money raised goes to the Adam Ward Scholarship Foundation.
“I’ve known the entire family for a while, so it’s near and dear to my heart,” tournament co-founder Grant Smythers said. “It’s become a labor of love to all of us. I think it’s something everyone enjoys. I think now our name is synonymous with standing room only and people know we will bring in good teams.”
“We know we’re putting a good product on the floor. We’re very organized, detail-oriented. We want people to have a good time. I think you will see a lot of high-level basketball from a lot of our different teams and that’s really exciting for us.”
Day one results from the Adam Ward Classic:
Girls: Cave Spring 77, Christiansburg 35
Boys: Patrick Henry 72, Pulaski Co. 51
Auburn 71 Lord Botetourt 63