On a night when Benicia High’s varsity basketball team honored seniors Keylai Boughton, Brittany Portello, Faithe Pangelinan and Michelle Minahen, it was junior guard Michelle Li who stole the show.

THE LADY PANTHERS honored their senior basketball players before Thursday’s game with Vallejo. Standing with Benicia coaches Randy Saitz and Paige Pangelinan are (from left) seniors Faithe Pangelinan, Brittany Portello, Keylai Boughton and Michelle Minahen.

Li poured in a game-high 24 points and led the Lady Panthers to a 51-41 victory over visiting Vallejo last Thursday. Li also led Benicia in rebounds (six), assists (four), steals (three) and blocks (two) as the Lady Panthers wrapped up third place in the Solano County Athletic Conference and a berth in the upcoming Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs.

“It’s my third year here and my third year going to the playoffs, so that’s a good thing,” said Benicia head coach Randy Saitz. “I’m proud of these girls and I’m proud of these seniors.”

Saitz started all four of his seniors and added Li to the mix. Though the seniors combined for only six points all night, they opened the door for Li to make plays inside and out. The junior guard scored seven points, including a late 3-pointer, to put Benicia up 14-9 after the opening quarter. The Lady Panthers pushed their lead to 36-18 late in the third quarter and held off Vallejo’s late charge in the fourth, Li converting a 3-point play with 2:41 remaining to put Benicia up 49-36.

“We worked as a team, passed the ball around and cut down on our turnovers,” Pangelinan said.

“We ran our offense and everyone played really hard,” Portello added.

Sophomore Ariana Elder had 13 points, four rebounds, three steals and two blocks for Benicia, which improved to 8-12 overall and 5-4 in the SCAC.

The Lady Panthers wrap up the regular season at American Canyon (13-13, 3-6 SCAC) on Tuesday. Benicia isn’t expected to get a home game in the postseason, so the four Lady Panther seniors likely played their final contest on their own floor.

“It’s kinda sad knowing this is probably our last home game with a coach I’ve been here with for three years,” Portello said.

“It’s kinda emotional, but it’s really just another game,” said Pangelinan. “It probably won’t hit me until the playoffs.”

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