Pressure defense and hot shooting got Marshall ahead of Grand Rapids early and the Tigers rode the momentum to an 83-64 victory Wednesday in the Class 3A quarterfinals at Williams Arena.

The third-seeded Tigers shot 53 percent from the floor in the first half, including six of 11 three-pointers, to build a 44-28 lead at halftime. That shot-making allowed them to full-court pressure and force the Thunderhawks into eight first-half turnovers and awkward shots.

“We don’t really like slowing it down,” Tigers senior forward Reece Winkelman said. “We hate playing to other team’s speed. We like to set the pace right away.”

The Tigers had five players finish in double figures, led by Winkelman’s 17. He also had 10 rebounds. Mitchell Sueker had 15 points, Zach Bloemker and Trey Lance had 14 each and Weston Baker Magrath had 12.

The Thunderhawks’ Jake Skelly had 33 points to keep his team in the game in the first half and the game from getting too far out of hand. The Thunderhawks cut into a large deficit in the second half, but could not get it down to single digits.

“Everyone wants to get it all back at once,” Skelly said. “But you can’t. You have to get some stops on defense and chip away at it. We just had a hard time getting stops.”

JOSEPH GUNTHER