The good news is that the Glacier Wolfpack girls are headed to the State AA basketball tournament for a fifth straight year.

The bad news is that they’ll be facing Billings West for a fourth straight time in the first round.

It’s a tough draw for the fourth-seeded Pack, which lost to the Golden Girls 53-31 in the first round at last year’s tournament, which was cut short by the pandemic after the semifinal round.

“Not ideal,” admitted second-year Glacier head coach Amanda Cram.

The Glacier girls (9-6) play at 3:30 p.m. today at Four Seasons Arena; the Glacier boys play the second game of the day, against Great Falls High, at 11 a.m.

GIRLS

The Wolfpack did beat West 50-40 in 2018, albeit as a higher seed. This West team is 14-1, tall and young: Three freshmen (Taylee Chirrick, 6-foot-4 Sidney Pierce and Kourtney Grossman) averaging between 8.5 and 11.2 points a game. Kaitlyn Grossman, a 6-0 junior, and Pierce both average more than seven rebounds a game.

It’s a squad that boasts just two seniors who don’t score much. The Golden Girls lost Willa Albrecht to the Lady Griz, but still piled up 60 points a game. They allow 31.8.

“They definitely are playing a different game than they were offensively and defensively, since the Albrecht twins graduated,” Cram said. “They’re really patient on both sides of the ball. Defensively they change things up every couple of possessions, so it makes it hard to scout them.

“Offensively, wow, they have 8-10 girls that can take over the game and score the ball.”

Glacier has depth, though not to the extent of West. Senior guard Ellie Keller continues to lead the way, averaging 12.9 points and three steals a game. Emma Anderson averages 7.6 points and a team-high 5.9 rebounds; Kenzie Williams averages 9.2 and 4.2.

Kaylee Fritz, Sidney Gulick, Bethany Sorensen and Janessa Henson are all capable of big games for the Pack, which had the Western AA’s top seed, Missoula Hellgate, on the ropes this season before losing 50-49.

“We’re healthy and excited for the opportunity to make some noise,” Cram said. “And give Billings West their biggest challenge of the season.”

BOYS

The Wolfpack pulled off a shocker last week with its 45-43 win at second-seeded Missoula Hellgate. More electricity is in order to battle the 14-1 Bison, who are led by Drew Wyman — only Sentinel’s Alex Germer has averaged more points than Wyman’s 20.9 this season — Levi Torgerson and Reid Harris.

Wyman grabs 8.4 rebounds a game; Harris averages 10.4 points and 6.9 rebounds. Torgerson has hit 47 3-pointers while averaging 14.8 points.

“Very good players,” Glacier coach Mark Harkins said. “That’s a tough matchup. Drew is just such a tough kid, kind of like Jaxson Olsen: He can shoot from the outside but his work in the blocks is incredible.

“The Torgerson kid has just unlimited range. He reminds me of the NBA All-Star game on Sunday. He’ll be six, seven feet behind the line and he doesn’t even think about it. He’ll let her go.”

Weston Price continues to lead the Pack in scoring (11 ppg) while Olsen (10) is just a tick behind. The 6-7 Noah Dowler is coming off one of his better games in the win over Hellgate; Connor Sullivan has been a steady sniper.

The last time Glacier played Great Falls was Dec. 14, 2019: The Bison won 62-61 at the Wolf Den. The 6-3 Wyman had 25 points in that one.