The Glacier boys leaned on their big guy to carry them to a 66-64 win against a hot-shooting Whitefish club on Friday night at Glacier High School.

After trailing by four points with less than three minutes to play, the Wolfpack began to push the ball to 6-foot-11 junior Ryan Edwards in the post, who used his size to take over the game. Edwards scored on back-to-back possessions to tie it at 60-60 with two minutes to play and scored in the post with 1:09 left to give the Pack the lead for good.

In total, Edwards scored six of Glacier's final 10 points and 10 total in the fourth quarter. He finished with 16 points.

"We told him at halftime he needed to take everything at the rim and needed to get aggressive," Glacier coach Mark Harkins said.

"He responded very nicely and had a great second half. He was definitely a force."

Whitefish started the game off on fire, hitting three 3-pointers in the first quarter to take a 19-12 lead after eight minutes.

The Bulldogs' Gage Vasquez led the charge, scoring seven points in the opening quarter and setting up a pair of baskets.

It wasn't until midway through the second that Glacier was able to seize back the momentum and narrow the score. Sophomore Evan Epperly got in the passing lanes and got a pair of steals to spark the Wolfpack fast break.

The fifth-ranked Pack (7-2) went on a 14-4 run over the first four minutes of the second quarter to take the lead 26-23, its first lead since the first minute of the ballgame.

Whitefish (5-5) closed the half on a 4-0 run to take a 31-30 lead into the break.

After halftime, the Bulldogs deep shooters took control of the game again. Vasquez hit two quick buckets and dished it out to Jake Slaybaugh for a 3-pointer to give Whitefish a 40-36 lead midway through the third quarter.

The two teams traded runs over the next four minutes, with Glacier ripping off eight straight fast-break points to take the lead before Whitefish finished the quarter on a 12-2 run to enter the fourth up 52-46.

The Wolfpack was able to slow down the game in the fourth, and after trading baskets to begin the quarter, started to get the ball inside to Edwards to close it out.

Logan Iverson sealed the victory with a free throw with nine seconds left to give the Wolfpack a four-point lead. A last second layin by Whitefish's Jace Kalbfleisch narrowed the final score to two points.

Glacier held the Bulldogs to just two field goals in the final five and a half minutes of play. Whitefish had its chances from the free-throw line but hit just 4 of 9 free throws in the fourth quarter.

"The pressure got there late and we were able to get out there and run, which is what we like to do," Harkins said.

Kyle Griffith led the Wolfpack with a game-high 23 points. Sean Peters finished with 12 points.

Vasquez led the Bulldogs with 19 points while Slaybaugh finished with 17.

Whitefish was potent from deep, hitting six 3-pointers. Slaybaugh closed the third quarter hitting two 3s and two more from just inside the arc.

"(Whitefish) flat out shot the lights out," Harkins said. "Credit to Mark (Casazza) and his team. They had a great game plan. They shot the ball very well. I was very impressed with that Whitefish team. We got after them the first game and they came out just going. It made it a very good game."

Glacier travels to Helena for a pair of conference games against Helena High and Capital next weekend.

Whitefish plays at home against Polson tonight.

Whitefish 19 12 21 12 - 64

Glacier 12 18 16 20 - 66

WHITEFISH - Jake Slaybaugh 17, Logan Harwood 7, Gage Vasquez 19, Cooper Olson 10, Jace Kalbfleisch 10, Christopher Forrest 1.

GLACIER - Evan Epperly 4, Kyle Griffith 23, Ryan Edwards 16, Sean Peters 12, Colton Harkins 8, Logan Iverson 3.