Central-Southeastern ratchets up defensive effort in second half to run away from Illini West

CARTHAGE, Ill. — Karly Peters did not offer any excuses. Nor did she try to sugarcoat the first-half performance turned in by the Central-Southeastern girls basketball team.

“We weren’t working hard enough on defense in the first half, but we kind of locked it down in the second half,” said Peters, a 5-foot-9 junior.

That assessment was probably an understatement.

Peters was one of three players in double figures Monday night for the Panthers, who remained unbeaten with a 46-22 victory over Illini West.

CSE (5-0) broke the game open early in the second half en route to building as much as a 27-point lead (44-17) lead before both coaches emptied their benches. The Panthers had led 20-10 after a first half that was played at a snail’s pace at both ends of the floor.

“We didn’t make any big changes at halftime,” CSE coach Matt Long said. “We just had not been moving or communicating at the defensive end of the floor.”

Despite what was admittedly a frustrating first half, Long was only minimally upset with his club.

“We’re still a work in progress, especially on defense where we tend to lack intensity,” he said. “We just need to work more on better communication.”

The Panthers’ defensive effort, however, was hardly a failure.

CSE limited Illini West (4-5) to only 32 field-goal attempts and forced 31 turnovers by the Chargers. No Illini West player scored more than 4 points.

“I felt Central’s defensive pressure wore us down as the game progressed,” said Chargers coach Grant Surprenant, whose team had won three of its previous four starts. “We gave up too many transition baskets.”

Briyln Lantz, a 5-foot-7 senior, led CSE in scoring with 13 points, backed by Peters (11) and 5-foot-10 junior Lauren Miller (10).

Miller’s role in the game was an interesting one. Normally the go-to-girl on offense, she picked up two quick fouls in the opening minutes and spent the rest of the first half on the bench.

“When Miller had to go to the bench in the first half with foul trouble, I think we kind of grew up,” Long said. “The other girls had to step up, and I think they did just that. We could have probably put (Miller) back in the game later in the first half, but I kind of wanted to see how the other girls would respond (without her).”

After returning to the lineup at the onset of the second half, Miller helped fuel CSE’s pullaway. She scored eight of her points in the third quarter and grabbed five of her game-leading seven rebounds, leading the Panthers to a 25-15 edge on the boards.

What Miller did to trigger CSE in the second half, Peters and Lantz had done in the first half. Peters scored nine of her points in the first two quarters, with Lantz registering seven.

Surprenant felt Monday night was a repeat of earlier struggles for Illini West.

“We’ve had opportunities in every game,” he said, noting the Chargers have lacked consistency most of the season at both ends of the floor.

Surprenant emphasized his club is still in a developmental stage.

“Right now, we have girls in different and/or bigger roles from a year ago,” he said.

Junior forward Reagan Reed led Illini West with four points.