Consistent Lady Wolfpack retools for another run at state

Here’s what the Glacier girls have going for them: One returning starter, two seniors, and a whole lot of consistency.

Coach Amanda Cram has capably carried on the tradition for the Wolfpack, who have made the State AA tournament nine of the last 10 seasons. It might come tougher this season, but a strong sophomore class should help returnees Sidney Gulick and Bethany Sorenson stay the course.

“Losing so many seniors definitely affects things,” Cram said. “However, the legacy those players left only improved our culture.”

Gulick averaged 4.4 points and 3.6 rebounds for a squad that lost its top four scorers to graduation. Among that group was 6-foot-2 Emma Anderson, so the Pack won’t be as tall this year either.

“Sidney Gulick is about 6 feet and everyone else is 5-8 or below,” Cram said. “If we were a professional team, one might say we are rebuilding.”

Help is on the way. Noah Fincher is ready to play the point; fellow sophomores Kiera Sullivan, Sarah Downs and Bailey Gable will contribute. Beyond them are junior Colette Daniels and freshmen Reese Ramey and Kennedee Moore.

Sorenson, who returned from a knee injury suffered as a sophomore to play solid minutes last season, should have a larger role.

“She contributed considerably last year,” Cram said. “But I’m truly looking forward to her shining this year, behind the player we know and she knows she can be.”

Glacier isn’t alone in losing a ton of seniors, so you shouldn’t count out a sixth straight state berth.

Missoula Hellgate returns seven seniors from a team that narrowly lost the title game to Helena Capital, of course. Flathead returns most of its firepower from last season as well.

“The rest of the conference is going to be tight because the rest of the schools lost dominating senior classes,” Cram noted. “ Who knows what they’re going to bring, what systems get changed. It’s going to be chaos in the best possible way.”

Three new coaches join the Western AA: Bryan Arntson took over for Maury Cook in Butte; Tyler Hobbs is the new Missoula Big Sky coach, after assisting Karen Deden at Sentinel last year; and Sarah Pfeifer took over for Deden, who stepped down after 343 wins (and 132 losses) at her high school alma mater.

The Spartans won’t lose much in coaching pedigree. Deden, one of the best players Montana has produced, scored 1,596 points at Washington. Pfeifer scored 1,056 points at the University of Arkansas.