A pair of scoring surges pushed top-seeded White River to victory on Thursday afternoon.

The Tigers scored eight straight points to start the second period and added seven unanswered points to begin the third quarter on the way to a 72-57 win over Viborg-Hurley in the opening round of the State B Boys’ Basketball Tournament at Wachs Arena.

White River senior Jordan Uhlir said it took a few simple keys to come away with the win.

“Just defending and being smart on offense,” Uhlir said.

Both squads came out trading baskets in the opening quarter with no margin larger than four points. The squads used aggressive defense and balanced offense, before White River eventually grabbed a 19-18 lead into the second quarter.

Tigers coach Eldon Marshall felt his team was able to handle the adversity early in the contest.

“You’re going to face teams that are very good,” Marshall said. “They came out and weathered the storm early against very good team.”

It was the second quarter when White River began to take control. The Tigers started the period with eight unanswered points. Viborg-Hurley worked to stay in the game, but had issues with foul trouble, and managed just six points during the period.

Cougars coach Galen Schoenefeld said fouls and defensive lapses led to second-quarter deficit.

“Obviously, we struggled a little bit more defensively and then Nick (Hanson) got the two fouls and we had to sit him for a while and that made a big difference to our offense,” Schoenefeld said.

Another key to the game was turnovers, as White River forced the Cougars into 22 turnovers, including 13 in the first half, while committing just nine total.

Marshall said his team’s defense led to offense in the second quarter stretch.

“Because of our defense we get some steals and we got some runouts,” Marshall said. “We really look for that and try to get an easy one out of those.”

Viborg-Hurley senior Bryson Morrison felt the second quarter took a toll on his team’s energy.

“Beginning of the game we came out strong,” Morrison said. “I feel like our energy kind of broke down after that and we just didn’t get back in it very well.”

In the second half, the Tigers continued building their momentum. White River scored the first seven points of the half and stretched its lead to as many as 19 in the fourth quarter by continuing to use aggressive defense to force turnovers. The Tigers finished with 23 points off turnovers, compared to just four for the Cougars, something Uhlir said was a big advantage in the game.

“That’s really big, especially scoring off those turnovers,” Uhlir said. “If you’re not (scoring), they don’t matter that much, but we need to score with them.”

Uhlir finished with a game-high 21 points, including a dunk to punctuate the victory, while Nic Marshall finished with 20 points, while also dishing out seven assists.

Evastine Wright and Ray Crow added 11 and 10 points, respectively to the White River total.

Viborg-Hurley (18-6) was led by Hanson with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Brady Schroedermeier had 13 points. Morrison added eight points and three assists.

The Cougars will face Wessington Springs today in the consolation round at noon.

Schoenefeld said the team will need to move forward from the loss and look to improve from last year’s tournament.

“One of the things we talked about since last year was let’s improve on last year,” Schoenefeld said. “Well, we still will have that opportunity. We were sixth place last year and I think it would still mean a lot to win these next two games and go home with that consolation championship.”

White River (22-2) will move into the semifinal round for the third consecutive year, where they will face Howard at 6 tonight. Uhlir emphasized what his team will need to do to prepare for the contest.

“Rest and see what they got,” Uhlir said.

VIBORG-HURLEY (18-6): Devin Sayler 1 0-0 2, Nolan Kolthoff 2 0-2 4, Brady Schroedermeier 5 2-2 13, Nick Hanson 7 3-3 17, Bryson Morrison 3 0-0 8, Braydyn Morrison 1 0-0 3, Andrew Madsen 1 0-0 2, Jake Austin 1 0-2 3, Owen Niederbaumer 1 0-0 3, Rafe Goettertz 1 0-0 2. Totals 23 5-9 57.

WHITE RIVER (22-2): Nic Marshall 7 6-10 20, Mackenzie Wike 2 0-2 4, Ray Crow 4 4-4 10, Evastine Wright 3 3-3 11, Jordan Uhlir 9 3-3 21, Cooper Baxter 0 2-2 2, Teagan Bouman 1 0-0 2, Mehki Krogman 1 0-0 2. Totals 27 15-23 72.

Viborg-Hurley 18 24 36 57

White River 19 31 45 72

3-point field goals – Bryson Morrison (2), Braydyn Morrison, Schroedermeier, Austin, Niederbaumer; Crow (2), Wright. Total fouls – Viborg-Hurley 19; White River 14. Rebounds – Viborg-Hurley 32 (Hanson 7); White River 21 (Wright 5). Turnovers – Viborg-Hurley 22; White River 9. Assists – Viborg-Hurley 11 (Sayler 3, Bryson Morrison 3); White River 12 (Marshall 7). Blocks – Viborg-Hurley 3 (Kolthoff, Schroedermeier, Goettertz). Steals – Viborg-Hurley 1 (Braydyn Morrison); White River 9 (T. Bouman 4).