Now, it’s incumbent upon the Lady Red Devils to take things further.

Central Cambria punched its ticket into the quarterfinal round of the PIAA Class 3A girls basketball tournament for the second straight season by topping Karns City, 41-34, in a second-round playoff game Tuesday night at the Plum High School gym.

The victory upped the District 6 champion Lady Red Devils’ season record to 22-6 and earned them a quarterfinal-round matchup Friday night at a site and time to be determined against WPIAL champion Shady Side Academy, which advanced by downing Beaver Falls, 39-33, in a second-round game Tuesday night.

“We’re obviously very grateful and blessed,” Central Cambria coach Brittany Bracken said of her team’s second straight appearance in the state quarterfinals — a round in which the Lady Devils’ season ended a year ago with a loss to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart.

03/10/26 Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski / Central Cambria's Katie George battles Karns City's Hanna Dailey for the ball.

“I told the girls that this doesn’t happen every year, and we want to enjoy it and make the most of it,” Bracken added. “I knew these girls had it in them. It’s a long season, and every single one of these players has given 100 percent all year.”

Central Cambria reached the state semifinals under Bracken’s direction in 2019, but fell one win short of a berth in the state championship game that year after a loss to Delone Catholic.

If the Lady Devils are to make another trip to the semis this year, they’ll have to navigate a talented Shady Side Academy team that boosted its season record to 25-2 on Tuesday.

Bracken said that she doesn’t know much about Friday’s opponent.

“I’m a one game at a time girl,” Bracken said. “I’ll be learning more about them over the next couple of days.”

Central Cambria took command of Tuesday’s game by putting together an 11-2 second-quarter run to wipe out a 19-14 deficit and go into the locker room at intermission with a 25-21 lead that it would not relinquish in the second half.

Freshman Delaney Snyder started Central Cambria’s rally by scoring on a putback and senior Alaina Long drained a 3-point shot from the top of the circle to tie the game, 19-19. After senior Naomi Venesky’s bucket gave Karns City its last lead of the game, 21-19, Central Cambria junior Katie George hit a short jumper, Long turned a midcourt steal into a fast-break layup, and sophomore Paige Alexander canned a jump shot to give Central Cambria the 25-21 halftime lead.

“I know that we didn’t start this game the way that we would have liked, but our rebounding in the second quarter gave us some more scoring opportunities, and put us where we wanted to be going into halftime,” said Long, who led Central Cambria with 11 points.

“And we were able to carry that momentum into the second half and beyond,” Long said.

Central Cambria’s efficiency on the offensive boards was a big factor in the game for the Lady Devils, who got a game-high seven rebounds apiece from Snyder and sophomore Gianna Grimaldi.

“Their performance on the offensive glass, and our inability to box out and get rebounds, hurt us,” said Karns City coach Steve Andreassi, whose District 9 championship team closed out a 25-3 season. “(Central Cambria) probably got 15 to 18 offensive rebounds tonight, which is unacceptable on our part.

“The last two minutes of the second quarter and the first two minutes of the third quarter are the most important parts of the game, and they outscored us tonight during that time period,” Andreassi added.

Karns City pulled to within 29-26 in the third quarter on the third of four 3-pointers in the game by sophomore guard Alivia Farren, who scored a game-high 12 points.

Central Cambria, however, responded with an 8-3 run that gave the Lady Devils a 37-29 lead with about three minutes left in the game. Long’s steal and layup, followed by Grimaldi’s second-chance bucket after Snyder had grabbed a rebound of a missed shot in the paint, put Central Cambria in a position to slow the game down and bleed out the last few minutes on the clock.

“I think that we really clamped down on defense, and that our defense and rebounding were keys for us tonight,” Bracken said. “Defensively, we were able to limit them to one look, then grab the rebound. It seemed like Gianna Grimaldi was in on almost every rebound for us tonight.”

And now it’s a return to familiar territory for the Lady Devils, who are hoping to win on Friday and reach the state semifinal round for the first time in seven years.

“This feels amazing, I am so grateful that I’m a member of this team,” Long said. “Our coaches prepare us so well, and now we have another awesome opportunity.”

CENTRAL CAMBRIA (41): Snyder 2 1-4 5, George 2 3-4 8, Long 3 4-4 11, Grimaldi 4 0-0 8, Alexander 1 2-2 4, Hite 1 1-1 3, Ruddek 1 0-0 2. Totals – 14 11-15 41.

KARNS CITY (34): Venesky 2 4-6 8, Summerville 3 1-2 7, Farren 4 0-0 12, Dailey 0 0-0 0, Ritzek 1 3-4 5, Mahood 1 0-0 2, Heginbotham 0 0-0 0. Totals – 11 8-12 34.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Central Cambria 11 14 6 10–41

Karns City 15 6 6 7–34

3-point goals: Central Cambria 2 (George, Long); Karns City 4 (Farren 4).

Records: Central Cambria (22-6); Karns City (25-3).

Officials: Felicia Young, Jay Peoples, Teresa Buss.