Miller helps Central-Southeastern show toughness, resilience in victory over Palmyra

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Central-Southeastern forward Lauren Miller gets inside the Palmyra defense and finishes at the rim during Saturday's game in the KHQA/American Family Insurance Superfan Shootout at The Pit. | Matt Schuckman photo

QUINCY — Lauren Miller stood in the middle of the lane before an inbounds play with her hand cupped covering her mouth as she continually coughed.

Moments later, she drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key that extended the Central-Southeastern girls basketball team’s first half lead over Palmyra on Saturday to eight points, and her presence and game-high 24 points pushed the Panthers to a 59-48 victory in the KHQA/American Family Insurance Superfan Shootout at The Pit.

“Our kids gutted it out and showed some toughness,” Central-Southeastern coach Matt Long said. “Palmyra showed some toughness. Face it, nobody feels good, so everyone had to gut it out.”

The combination of illness and foul trouble made both teams rely on their resilience.

Palmyra led 18-16 with 5:10 remaining in the first half after Clare Williams scored on a drive down the right side of the lane. CSE answered with an 11-0 that featured Claire Huston’s go-ahead 3-pointer. The Panthers never gave up the lead again.

“We got some timely steals when we needed them,” Long said. “We converted some shots when we needed to as well.”

Karly Peters scored 15 points for CSE, which is ranked sixth in the Class 2A state poll, while Lexi Niekamp finished with 14 points. Sydney Compton, who spent most of the first half on the bench in foul trouble, finished with 19 points and Williams had 16 points.

Palmyra (11-8) dives back into Clarence Cannon Conference play with Tuesday’s trip to Monroe City, while CSE (23-3) closes the regular season with games Tuesday against West Hancock, Wednesday at Pleasant Hill and Thursday at Mendon Unity.

“This teaches us we have to be ready to go any given night,” Long said. “When there’s work to be done, you show up.”

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