Toughness and tenacity were requirements at the Wolf Den Saturday as Helena battled Glacier.

After 51 fouls and 65 combined free throws, it was the Bengals who escaped with a 58-53 victory and a weekend sweep in Kalispell. 

“(Aggressiveness) is what we do best offensively,” Glacier coach Evan Epperly said. “We can put pressure on the rim. Our guys do a good job of getting downhill and attacking, creating contact, playing through contact and getting to the free throw line. We are doing that at a really high rate.” 

Tyse Todorovich led all scorers with 20 points for the Bengals (7-5 overall, 4-3 in Western AA games). Chase Foster added 13. 

Cooper Pelc led Glacier with 16, while Asher Knopik tallied 13. 

A slow start hurt the Wolfpack (4-8, 1-6 in conference) as Helena jumped ahead 6-0 early and 13-5 late in the first quarter. 

Glacier fought back in the second though as Ethan Kastelitz knocked down back-to-back triples to cap an 8-0 run and put Glacier ahead 17-16. He finished with 10 points.  

Reece Silvonen tied the game up at 20 before a 9-3 run gave the Bengals a 29-23 advantage at the half. 

Helena extended its advantage to double digits, 41-31, early in the third on a drop-step lay in from Seth Lieberg. 

The Wolfpack continued to battle though, getting to the line on three straight possessions before a Pelc basket made it 41-37. 

The Bengals grew the lead back out to 50-41 early in the fourth on a Todorovich bucket. 

Glacier closed again down the stretch as Kastelitz made it 56-53 at the foul line in the final 20 seconds, but Todorovich hit two free throws in the dying seconds to secure the win for Helena. 

“We were right there and gave ourselves a chance but too many turnovers, too many missed free throws down the stretch and you can’t do that if you want to put teams away,” Epperly said. 

The Wolfpack are back at the Wolf Den Tuesday as they battle with Missoula Hellgate at 7 p.m. with senior night festivities ahead of the game. 

Helena    16    13    19    10    -    58 

Glacier    9    14    16    14    -    53

HELENA — Pacer Lybbert 1 3-4 5, CJ OneSpot-Danforth 0 0-0 0, Reece Silvonen 1 2-2 4, Seth Lieberg 3 4-6 10, Gracen Silvonen 2 1-4 6, Tyse Todorovich 5 9-11 20, Seth Kiser 0 0-0 0, Jonathan Laboy 0 0-0 0, Chase Foster 4 2-2 13. Totals 16 21-29 58. 

GLACIER — Cooper Pelc 3 9-12 16, Ethan Kastelitz 2 4-6 10, Tate Kahler 3 1-1 7, Hudson Kastelitz 1 0-0 3, Talis Pitts 0 0-0 0, Blake Pittman 0 0-0 0, Dylan Banzet 1 0-0 2, Asher Knopik 2 7-11 12, Carter Knopik 0 3-6 3. Totals 12 24-36 53. 

3-point goals — Helena 5 (Foster 3, G Silvonen, Todorovich), Glacier 5 (E Kastelitz 2, Pelc, H Kastelitz, A Knopik). Fouls — Helena 28. Glacier 23. Fouled out — Lybbert, R Silvonen, C Knopik. Technical fouls — E Kastelitz.