BLAIRSVILLE – On Wednesday night, the Penns Valley girls basketball made the trip out to Blairsville to compete against No. 4 seed River Valley (11-11) in the District 6 Class AAA quarterfinals.

Behind a 28-point outing from senior Elle Dinges and a strong third quarter, the Rams left little room for question. They took a six-point lead at the half and made it insurmountable a quarter later, winning, 76-53, to advance to the semifinals.

Dinges took a 13-point first half and built on it through an active third quarter for the team. Her nine points in the stanza were eclipsed by just one, teammate Sydnie Dalton, who hit two threes and finished the quarter with 12.

Those efforts headlined a stanza that saw the Rams outscore River Valley 26-11, as they upped their lead from six to 21 and ran away with a previously even affair. They slowed down a tad in the fourth, but still managed to outscore the Panthers there too.

Outside of Dinges, Dalton also cleared double figures, hitting a game-high three triples and scoring 19 points. Paige Johnson contributed 15 for the Rams, and Ellie Romig added eight.

For River Valley, five players did all the heavy-lifting. Kennedy Cole matched Dinges’s game-high with 28 on nothing but twos, and Maddie Twinchek followed her up with nine.

With the win, Penns Valley (11-12) continues its road stint next Monday, traveling to Central Cambria to face the winner of the top-seeded Red Devils and Philipsburg-Osceola (6-16). That game is set for 7 p.m.

Penns Valley 76, River Valley 53

(DISTRICT 6 CLASS AAA QUARTERFINALS)

PENNS VALLEY (76)

Paige Johnson 7 1-1 15; Sydnie Dalton 8 0-0 19; Lilly Smith 1 0-0 2; Ellie Romig 3 0-0 8; Jordan Johnson 2 0-0 4; Elle Dinges 12 3-4 28. Totals 33 4-5 76.

RIVER VALLEY (53)

Alessia Lamantia 3 0-0 7; Kenady Kitner 2 0-0 5; Maren Dunlap 2 0-0 4; Maddie Twinchek 2 5-6 9; Kennedy Cole 14 0-0 28. Totals 23 5-6 53.

Penns Valley 19 15 26 16 – 76

River Valley 16 12 11 14 – 53

Three-pointers: Penns Valley 6 (Dalton 3, Romig 2, Dinges); River Valley 2 (Lamantia, Kitner).

Record: Penns Valley 11-12.