Hitting its shots and cleaning up the boards, Glacier (9-9 overall, 5-5 Western AA) rebounded from a loss on Friday night with a strong game against Helena High (6-12, 2-8), picking up a 70-60 victory in a Western AA conference boys home basketball game on Saturday afternoon.

The Wolfpack’s work on the glass enabled it to get out on the break more consistently, an advantage that helped it build a 14-point lead early in the second quarter. Glacier scored six straight points in transition to open the second and capped a 9-1 run with a kickout 3-pointer from Sam McCamley to go up 25-11 with 5:35 to play in the half.

The lead was enough to hold off a series of charges from the Bengals, with Glacier able to stem the rush each time by getting the ball inside.

“We shot better tonight, but I think that has a lot to do with the inside-out game,” Glacier coach Mark Harkins said.

“If we get penetration and kick out for a three, that’s a lot easier shot than coming off transition or coming from rotating around the horn. When we penetrate, our shooting percentage goes up.”

Helena cut its deficit to a two-score game multiple times, first hitting back back-to-back 3-pointers with a minute to play in the half to cut Glacier’s advantage back to five only to enter the break down nine after Glacier scored on layups the next two possessions.

The Bengals carved into the lead again in the fourth, as Chase South, who closed the third with a prayer 3-point shot 52 feet from the basket, went on a personal six-point run to cut the lead back to 56-50 less than two minutes into the frame. Helena got within four points with four minutes to play after a 3 and a bank shot from Troy Arntson.

The game didn’t stay close long, Glacier extending its lead on free throws, closing the contest by making 9 of 12 shots from the line.

Evan Epperly led the way for Glacier, scoring 18 points with five assists. Bryan Michaels had 16 points, making 8 of 9 free throws, and Tanner Olsen had 10 points for Glacier.

Freshman center Jaxen Hashley just missed out on a double-double pulling in a game-high 11 rebounds with eight points.

“Jaxen’s coming on,” Harkins said.

“He has great timing and great hands. He’s doing a great job for us. It’s nice to see as the season’s progressed, him raising the level of his game. He’s always had great skills. To see him stepping up and competing at a varsity level, sometimes that’s the hardest thing for a young kid to do is to learn how to play at that intensity. He’s really learning how to do that.”

Arntson had 17 and South 15 for the Bengals.

The win gave Glacier a one-game cushion on Flathead for fourth place in the conference with two games to play. The Wolfpack hosts Hellgate on Tuesday in the preamble to Friday’s crosstown game at Flathead.

“We’ve got to keep working, keep getting better, but I’m happy,” Harkins said. “This is a good way to start the weekend, feel good going into next week.”

Helena 10 17 17 16 — 60

Glacier 16 20 17 17 — 70

HELENA — Kyle Cochran 1-4 1-2 3, Troy Arntson 5-15 4-4 17, McBride Galt 3-13 0-1 7, Chase South 6-12 2-4 15, Garth Grimsrud 0-2 1-2 1, Tyler Tolman 3-8 0-0 7, Derek Jenneskens 1-4 0-0 3, Ragen Shein 3-6 1-1 7. Totals: 22-64 9-14 60.

GLACIER — Evan Epperly 7-17 2-5 18, Bryan Michaels 4-9 8-9 16, Kyler Harkins 1-5 1-2 4, Tanner Olsen 3-5 2-2 10, Kevin Malloy 1-2 1-2 3, Sam McCamley 3-7 1-2 9, Cain Boschee 0-0 2-2 2, Jaxen Hashley 2-5 4-4 8. Totals: 21-50 21-28 70.

3-pointers — Helena 7-22 (Arntson 3), Glacier 7-16 (Epperly, Olsen, McCamley 2). Rebounds — Helena 32 (Galt 6), Glacier 44 (Hashley 11). Assists — Helena 16 (South 6), Glacier 17 (Epperly 5). Blocks — Helena 1 (Shein), Glacier 4 (Michaels 2). Steals — Helena 5 (Arntson, Galt 2), Glacier 3 (Harkins 2). Fouls — Helena 24, Glacier 13. Fouled out — Helena, Cochran. Technical fouls — none.