Glacier wing Cain Boschee made a game-saving block at the end of regulation and stole a final attempt inbounds pass to seal a narrow 34-33 overtime win over visiting Helena High (7-6 overall, 3-2 Western AA) for the fifth-ranked Wolfpack in a defense-heavy Western AA boys basketball game on Thursday.

Glacier (9-4, 3-2) entered the fourth quarter with a four-point lead, but saw it erased when it went cold on offense. After an early 3-pointer gave the Wolfpack a 29-22 lead, Glacier failed to score for the final seven minutes of the quarter, relying on a strong defense to hold on tight as Helena ground back into the contest.

The Bengals’ frontcourt did all the work, leading Helena to a 7-0 run over five minutes to draw the game even.

Tied at 29-29, Helena High held the ball for the final 1:28 of regulation, and with the clock expiring, found Derek Jenneskens open behind the 3-point line. Boschee, whose defense held Bengals guard Chase South scoreless, rotated over just in time to get his fingers on the shot and send the game to an extra session.

“I barely got my pinkie on it, just enough to disrupt it and get it on,” Boschee said.

The teams exchanged baskets in overtime, Glacier finally taking an advantage on a pair of free throws from reserve center Cody Norberg with 56 seconds remaining.

Helena stalled for a final shot, with forward AJ Kanthack taking his chance with a momentary opening in the lane to cut toward the basket. However, as he looked to rise for a game-winning layup, Glacier sophomore Jaxen Hashley swooped in from the other side of the basket with a hard foul.

Kanthack, who fell to the ground hard on the foul, missed a pair of free throws with 6.6 seconds to play, but recovered to rebound his second miss and give Helena a final chance to take the lead.

With 4.7 seconds left, Boschee came to the rescue again, recovering the tipped inbounds pass and throwing it to the other end of the court.

“I was just getting rid of it,” Boschee said. “I didn’t want to get to the line. I wanted to throw it away and get it over with.”

Even with time on the clock, the Bengals couldn’t recover the ball in time to get off a shot, ending a dramatic, low-scoring contest.

“That’s the weirdest game I’ve ever seen,” Glacier coach Mark Harkins said. “Their tenacity, their competitiveness is what came through tonight. These guys work their tails off. They fight and they claw.

“Our offense wasn’t working. Defense is just heart. They showed a lot of heart tonight.”

The game was played as evenly as possible. Both teams shot roughly 40 percent from the field and each was 3-for-9 from the free-throw line. The only glaring difference on the scoresheet was Glacier’s three 3-pointers to Helena’s two.

Glacier led or was tied for all but 50 seconds in the contest but couldn’t pull farther away than seven points, when it went cold in the fourth quarter. It’s defense and rebounding, the Wolfpack pulled in 27 boards to the Bengals’ 22, was the deciding factor in a game they were outsized by Helena’s large front court pairing of Henry Garrett and Ragen Shein.

“That was the key for us tonight, to go out there and compete with them rebounding,” Harkins said. “For us to do that against their size, I’m incredibly proud of the kids.”

Hashley had 12 points and 10 rebounds to lead Glacier. Norberg had eight, including the game-winning free throws.

“I thought they battled well,” Harkins said.

“What a game of heart tonight. Offensively, we weren’t getting a lot of stuff going.

“They’re a great defensive team. They’re huge, they pack their zone inside. They’re great at challenging shots without fouling. Points were hard to come by.

“We had to match that defensive tenacity. I thought they did tonight. They did a great job. We switched man and zone (defenses). We came up with big plays when we had to.”

Glacier hosts defending state champs Helena Capital tonight at 7 to close out its weekend.

Helena 7 6 9 7 4 — 33

Glacier 9 8 9 3 5 — 34

HELENA — Ragen Shein 3 1-1 8, Derek Jenneskens 1 0-0 3, AJ Kanthack 0 2-4 2, Henry Garrett 8-9 0-2 16, Chase Benson 0 0-2 0, Alec Holman 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 14-36 3-9 33.

GLACIER — Kade McCutcheon 2 0-3 4, Sam McCamley 1 0-0 3, Jaxen Hashley 5 1-4 12, Tucker Rauthe 1 0-0 2, Tadan Gilman 1 0-0 3, Cody Norberg 3 2-2 8, Josh Hill 1 0-0 2. Totals 14-35 3-9 34.

3-point goals—Helena 2-9 (Shein, Jenneskens), Glacier 3-14 (McCamley, Hashley, Gilman). Rebounds—Helena 22 (Kanthack, Garrett 4), Glacier 27 (Hashley 10). Total fouls—Helena 14, Glacier 12. Fouled out—none.