By Fritz Neighbor – Daily Inter Lake
A solid pack of juniors played for last season’s Glacier boys basketball team, and considering it overcame a 3-9 start to make the State AA tournament, that’s not a bad place to start.
Returning starters Noah Dowler — the Western AA’s top rebounder (9.4 a game) stands 6-foot-7 — and guard Ty Olsen bolstered the Wolfpack as juniors, and veteran head coach Mark Harkins saw seniors Tyler McDonald and Xavier Stout contribute.
Junior Cohen Kastelitz and senior Kaid Buls also got some experience, and that should help a team that lost five players to graduation.
Dowler is the most imposing, obviously, and his 8.2-point scoring average included a few dunks.
“All of my kids had a great offseason,” said Harkins, whose club ended up 10-14 in March. “I have nine seniors and all of them worked really hard, including Noah — he came in in great shape and ready to go and we’re excited about it.”
Olsen averaged 9.2 points and was a top rotation player for a second season; McDonald averaged 2.5 points. Beyond that Harkins isn’t sure who might start: Bulls, Kastelitz and Stout are threats, but so are seniors Adam Nikunen, Travys Agan, Jeff Lillard and Wyatt Cox.
When Glacier has been at its best, it has had a strong post presence and some shooters wearing down opponents inside and out.
“It’s still our basic philosophy,” Harkins said. “We need to get the ball in the post, whether it’s Noah or off the bounce. We have a few guys that can penetrate
the key. … that’s still the basic goal of our offense.”
It looks to be a very competitive Western AA, as always, with defending champion Helena Capital, always-good Missoula Hellgate and an experienced Helena High team haunting the top of the standings.
Glacier could be there; the Pack has made the State AA tournament 10 times in the 15 years the school has been open.
“I hope we’re competing in the top at the end,” said Harkins, who guided the Pack to the 2017 AA championship. “I think we have the guys to do it. It’s always about chemistry and playing together, but we have a team that should be competitive.”