GU’s Graves named assistant to USA team

Women’s basketball: Gonzaga University women’s basketball head coach Kelly Graves (pictured) will be an assistant coach for the 2012 USA Basketball Women’s U18 National Team.

University of Miami head coach Kate Maier is the head coach with Graves and Nikki Caldwell of Louisiana State University acting as assistants. The coaches were selected by the USA Basketball Junior National Team Committee.

Graves and Maier coached against each other in the second round of the 2012 NCAA tournament, while Graves and Caldwell faced each other in the second round of the 2011 NCAA tournament, when Caldwell was the head coach at UCLA.

The USA U18 National Team will compete in the 2012 FIBA Americas U18 Championship, held Aug. 15-19 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in hopes of securing a berth in the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship for Women.

The FIBA Americas U18 Championship will feature eight national teams from North, South and Central America and the Caribbean.

Sheridan, Tibbles will be honored

Prep sports: Former Shadle Park girls basketball and volleyball coach Linda Sheridan and former Gonzaga University and Creston High girls basketball player Tammy Tibbles will be inducted into the WIAA Hall of Fame on May 9, the association announced Thursday.

Carroll ranked 2nd in spring poll

College football: Carroll College of Helena is ranked second in the NAIA spring football coaches’ poll.

St. Xavier of Illinois, which beat Carroll 24-20 in last year’s national championship, was the unanimous first-place choice.

Carroll returns 12 starters, but lost 14 starters from its 2011 squad that went 13-2.

Associated Press