Glacier Wolfpack open season tonight at home against CDA

And so the odyssey begins.

First-year Glacier High School rolls out its basketball teams tonight with a season-opening doubleheader at home against Coeur d'Alene High School.

It'll be a battle of former colleagues between Glacier's first-year coach Mark Harkins and former Flathead High School coach Kent Leiss.

Leiss led the Braves to second place at the 2003 State AA Tournament. Harkins was one of his assistants.

"He taught me a lot," Harkins said of the Minnesota native.

Leiss led CDA High to the Idaho State 5A Tournament last season for the first time in quite awhile. The perimeter-oriented team returns two starters from that squad and is already 3-0 on the season.

"It's going to be interesting," Harkins said of the school's first game. "It's going to be a fun game for us. It's going to be a great test."

The young Wolfpack has two starters with varsity experience from Flathead: Six-foot-four sophomore forward Shay Smithwick-Hann and 5-10 junior guard Ben Cutler.

"Shay is the leader of the kids," Harkins said of the football team's quarterback. "They look up him and he handles it well. He's calm. As a player, he's an inside-outside threat. We expect him to be a scorer for us."

Cutler, brother of former FHS star Luke, is a good scorer with a ton of leadership.

"He's explosive," Harkins said. "He jumps really well and he's been there (at the varsity level)."

Glacier has a gem in junior point guard Ben Sansaver, a transfer from Wolf Point who wowed baseball fans last summer while playing for the Class A Kalispell Lakers.

"He's sees the court real well and he's quick," Harkins said. "He's going to be a good guy to have leading the offense."

Josh Doty, a 6-3 junior forward, will be Smithwick-Hann's right-hand man down low. He can shoot off the dribble and spot up on the post as well.

"He's a good threat," Harkins said. "He's a good athlete, jumps well and is a good rebounder. His timing on shot blocking is good."

Filling out the starting five for the Wolfpack will be 5-10 sophomore guard Connor Fuller.

"He knows the game well and is physical," Harkins said. "He's not afraid to go into the paint."

On offense, Harkins wants to push the ball.

"But we can't afford to force shots," Harkins said. "We are going to need to be patient. We're going to be a perimeter-oriented offense with swing passes and reverses of the ball. We want to penetrate and kick the ball out."

On defense, Harkins knows that with his team's lack of size they will have to pressure the ball on the perimeter.

"We've got to have good ball pressure," he said. "We're not big, so we're going to have to help the post players defend by putting pressure on the ball up top and make it hard for offenses to get the ball inside.

"Our league is post dominated."

Not surprisingly, the Wolfpack are picked to finish at the bottom of the Western AA.

Missoula Sentinel and Flathead are projected to duke it out for the conference title. The league champ will get a bye to the state tournament in Great Falls. The other tourney berths will be decided by three playoffs; there will be no more play-in games. Helena Capital and Missoula Big Sky are projected to finish third and fourth. Helena High, Missoula Hellgate and Glacier are predicted to round out the league.

The Wolfpack will look for depth from guard-forward combos George Werk and Cody Grosswiler. Werk is a 6-0 sophomore and is known for being a versatile hard-nosed worker. Grosswiler is a 6-1 junior who is the fastest kid on the team.

Forward Kramer Wilson, a 5-11 junior, will be a workhorse off the bench in defensive games.

Big boys Mike Rasmussen and Logan Quay will be counted on, as well. Rasmussen is a 6-2 junior who is very physical, although he doesn't have a lot of experience. Quay is a 6-3 sophomore who can "jump out of the gym."

Freshman guard Bryan Chery is very mature for is age and brings a lot of experience as a frosh.

Post Chad Gassaway, a 6-4 junior, is solid all the way around.

"We are going to be very scrappy and fun to watch," Harkins said. "We've got an uphill battle and the kids know it, but they've got big hearts and nothing seems to get them down."