Rain was falling in Benicia on Monday night, but shots weren’t falling for Benicia High’s boys varsity basketball team against visiting Concord.
The Panthers never really got on track offensively and misfired their way to a 55-44 loss to the Minutemen. No Panther made more than three shots from the field, and turnovers continued to plague a Benicia squad that has dropped three of its first four games this season.
“We’re just not finishing our shots and I don’t understand why,” said Benicia head coach Steve Carter. “We couldn’t make layups. We couldn’t make free throws. We couldn’t make anything. I’m hoping we figure it out because we’re better than that.”
The Panthers (1-3) managed only 18 points in the first half and trailed by eight at the break. Sophomore guard Dakarai Hughes – Benicia’s leading scorer this season – was held scoreless the entire first half and finished with only seven points. Senior Kendal Vargas had nine points to lead an impotent Panther attack.
“We came out flat and dug ourselves too deep a hole,” Vargas said. “It was a bad shooting night. We had good looks and took good shots, but we just weren’t making them.”
“We just didn’t have any energy in the first half,” Carter said. “We have to do better.”
Concord (5-2) wasn’t much better from the field but made a living at the free throw line. Junior forward Romeo Campbell made only one field goal but went 12-for-17 at the charity stripe and led all scorers with 14 points. The Minutemen made only 14 field goals all night but went 24-of-35 at the free throw line, including 8-of-10 in the fourth quarter.
Benicia made several attempts in the second half to close the gap. Trailing by 12 with just over a minute to go in the third quarter, Brandon Barrett scored off a nice feed from Hughes, and Hughes drilled a jump shot to make it 36-28. A free throw by Jalin Buck made it a seven-point game entering the fourth quarter.
Concord’s T.J. Quezon buried a 3-pointer to open the fourth, only to have Barrett answer with a 3-pointer from the right wing. But Barrett fouled out with 5;38 remaining and Benicia’s offense struggled without its best 3-point shooter on the floor.
“It hurt our offense because we had a harder time beating their zone,” Carter said.
Hughes made a 3-pointer, Vargas scored inside and added two free throws to make it 45-42 with 2:12 left, but the Panthers could get no closer. Campbell drove the lane for a bucket to put Concord back up by five, and Benicia turned the ball over on its next possession with 53 seconds to go.
“That was our game to take,” Carter said.
Quezon also had 14 points for the Minutemen. Barrett finished with eight points and Brady Christopher added six for Benicia.
The Panthers played at College Park on Tuesday night but details were not available at press time. Benicia hosts Vintage this Saturday at 6 p.m.
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