The White River High boys picked up a victory in their first South Puget Sound League 3A game of the season, defeating the Peninsula Seahawks Friday night.

Playing on their home court, the Hornets exploded offensively, posting a 93-46 victory.

First-year coach Rick Tripp was pleased with the lopsided win, noting that his crew took advantage of opportunities for plenty of early buckets and dominated on the boards.

Both teams were hot throughout the opening period, which ended with White River on top 29-21. The Hornets began to pull away in the second quarter, outscoring their guests 20-10, but it was the third frame that made all the difference. In the eight minutes following halftime, White River went on a 28-5 rampage, putting the game on ice.

Hunter Chadwick paced the Hornet offense with 16 points. Joining him in double figures were Jason Tyler with 14, Billy Kiel and Chad Saylor with 13 each and Blake Halverson with 11.

The important SPSL 3A victory followed on the heels of three nonleague losses. White River had lost at home 61-49 to Capital High Dec. 2, dropped a 62-20 heartbreaker Dec. 1 at Yelm and lost 57-36 at home to South Kitsap Nov. 28 in the season opener.

Looking at the bright spots, Tripp noted that his team nearly knocked off Yelm, despite the fact that the Tornadoes connected on 16 of 20 field goal attempts in the second half; against South Kitsap, the second-largest school in the state, White River trailed by just six points heading into the fourth quarter.

Leading scorers in the Hornet losses were Tyler, who had 10 against South Kitsap; Kiel and Saylor, with 14 and 13, respectively, against Yelm; and Saylor, with 18 against Capital.

Looking for their second SPSL 3A victory of the season, the Hornets traveled to Clover Park Tuesday night; results came too late to include here, but will be posted at www.courierherald.com. At 7 p.m. Friday, the Hornets host Auburn.