Northwest Notes July 4, 2021

Holmgren, USA Men open FIBA U19 World Cup with easy victory

RIGA, Latvia — Jaden Ivey of Purdue scored 21 points off the bench to lead the the USA Men’s U19 team to a 83-54 victory over Turkey on Saturday in both teams’ opening game of the 2021 FIBA U19 World Cup.

Incoming Gonzaga freshman Chet Holmgren finished with 13 points, nine rebounds, a team-high-tying five assists, one steal and team-high two blocked shots for Team USA.

“This win feels good,” Holmgren said. “I feel I can get my shot off pretty much whenever I want. So, I want to make sure I look for my teammates and elevate them. In the process that elevates my game as well and the whole team's performance. So, I just want to look to get my teammates involved and help make the game easier for them just like they do for me.”

The USA will continue in the preliminary round today at 10:30 a.m. PDT versus Mali. The USA will wrap up preliminary round play on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. PDT versus Australia.

Former Carroll, Rocky Mountain AD Parker dies

Bruce Parker, a well-known Montana sports figure who is enshrined in five Halls of Fame for his work as athletic director at Carroll College and then at Rocky Mountain College, died Friday morning after a long fight with diabetes and complications following a kidney transplant, 406mtsports.com reported. He was 64.

Among Parker's achievements as athletic director was adding eight sports at Carroll, the renovation of Rocky's Herb Klindt Field, and luring the NAIA national women’s basketball tournament for Billings. He was Frontier Conference AD of the Year nine times at Carroll and was a four-time national NAIA winner.

While he was at Carroll (2003-14), the football program won six national titles under coach Mike Van Diest.