Belpre's Larissa McDaniel pressures Paint Valley's Sophia Stauffer during the Golden Eagles' 60-27 Division VI district quarterfinal victory Thursday evening. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

BELPRE — The Belpre girls basketball team of first-year head coach Austin Cunningham will get to celebrate Valentine’s Day by not having to go to practice.

Here Thursday evening on Joe Garrett Court, the second-seeded Golden Eagles ran past No. 15 Paint Valley, 60-27, in a Division VI, Region 23 district quarterfinal to punch their ticket to Tuesday’s 6:15 p.m. showdown with No. 7 Dawson-Bryant at Southeastern High School.

“It’s a big one for the program,” said coach Cunningham, who has just two seniors in Parkersburg transfer guard Larissa McDaniel and Haley Alloway, who went for 16 points and five rebounds as teammate Gracie Bills led the way with game-highs of 19 counters and 11 caroms.

“That’s the first tournament game that any of our girls have won in their career. A big one to get over the hump with that one and feel the tournament win and hopefully keep propelling on through the district here.”

Paint Valley, which finished 3-20 and watched seniors Braylyn Cunningham, Sophia Stauffer and Mackenzie Crum play their final games, opened the scoring with a 3 after Nevi Conley found Lydia Hamilton.

Belpre's Haley Alloway gets past the defense of Paint Valley's Mayah Collier to score two of her 16 points during the Golden Eagles' 60-27 Division VI disctrict quarterfinal victory Thursday evening. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

However, Alloway scored the next six points, Bills followed with a pair of deuces and the bank was open when Madison Lauer kissed one in from downtown in front of the Bearcats’ bench.

Although Stauffer, who had five points, three assists and two steals, added a foul shot, she missed the second attempt and Bills went coast-to-coast after grabbing the rebound for a lay-in and a 15-4 cushion after one.

“It was a good win,” admitted Alloway, who watched Lauer go for nine points, Julia Way and Addy Stewart added six apiece, and Shy Miller a quartet. “I think we’ll make it far. We’ve really connected as a team.

“We’ve had many friendships along the way and we’re all connecting. It’s going good. We get one day off and then we’re right back at it. Mostly it’s just try to get our plays down and try to throw new ones in so no one really knows what we are doing.”

Belpre, which improved to 15-7 and forced 27 turnovers, scored the first six points of the second thanks to buckets by Alloway, Bills and Lauer.

Belpre's Gracie Bills and Paint Valley's Karris Dye fight for possession of the ball during the Golden Eagles' 60-27 Division VI district quarterfinal victory Thursday evening. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

With 1:41 left in the half, Delainey Mannion knocked down a triple to make it 30-12, but the lead ballooned back to 20 when Stewart canned a 19-foot jumper.

The Golden Eagles, who shot 43.6% (27 of 62) compared to Paint Valley’s 22.2% (8 of 36), held a 34-13 intermission advantage after Miller had a steal and raced the length of the court for a layin less than a second before the halftime horn.

“Tournament time, like I told them, everyone starts off 0-0,” added coach Cunningham, who watched Lauer give a pump fake from beyond the arc and then dribble in to drain an 18-foot jumper just before the buzzer to give the hosts a 52-21 lead after three.

“We moved to 1-0 tonight, but tomorrow we’re back to 0-0. It’s just tournament basketball and we got to get to the film and decide what we need to do, make some adjustments and attack it Tuesday.”

Bills and Miller tied for game-high steal honors with four apiece. Way had a trio of thefts.

Hamilton and Cunningham joined Stauffer with five counters, but Karris Dye led the Bearcats with eight points and a team-high eight rebounds. Mannion chipped in four markers and had five caroms.

“They are off tomorrow. Off day,” added coach Cunningham. “We’ll practice Saturday, Sunday, Monday and prepare for Dawson-Bryant and get after it Tuesday. It’s a big learning experience for the coaching staff and for the girls.

“New environment and just trying to get them to buy in with what we are trying to do and kind of change the culture around here, and just keep pushing forward. This is a new experience for all of us, tournament time, and we’re just ready to push forward and take it a game at a time.”

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com