A buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Peter Koenen lifted Benicia High’s boys varsity basketball team to a dramatic 66-64 victory over host American Canyon last Thursday night.

The Panthers called a timeout just past half court trailing by a point with 1.5 seconds remaining. The ensuing inbound pass to Brandon Barrett under the basket was knocked out of bounds by the Wolves, giving Benicia one last chance with 0.9 seconds left.

“We acted like we were going to throw a lob to Brandon down low again and they all rushed to him, and instead we set a back screen for Pete,” said Benicia head coach Steve Carter.

The deception worked perfectly as Koenen took the pass and quickly got off the game-winning 3-pointer.

“That saved our season,” Carter said of Koenen’s shot.

It was the second straight victory for the Panthers, who improved to 8-13 overall and 2-3 in the Solano County Athletic Conference. At the midway point of the SCAC schedule, the Panthers find themselves all alone in fourth place, one game behind Vallejo and Bethel for the third and final Sac-Joaquin Section playoff spot awarded to the conference.

Koenen finished with 10 points and added five rebounds. Sophomore point guard Dakarai Hughes led all scorers with 17 points and added four assists, while Barrett chipped in with 12 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks.

“It was a collective effort,” Carter said. “We just played better as a team and everybody is contributing.”

Five different players scored in double figures for American Canyon (12-9, 1-4 SCAC), which is 1-24 all time in SCAC competition.

Benicia plays at St. Patrick-St. Vincent on Saturday night and hosts Vanden on Tuesday night.

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