BENICIA SENIORS Michelle Li (left) and Quilaina Dollar were honored by the Lady Panthers basketball team before Tuesday’s game against Bethel.

Poor shooting and too many turnovers ruined Senior Night for Benicia High’s girls varsity basketball team in a 42-27 loss to visiting Bethel on Tuesday.

The Lady Panthers never did get going offensively, making only 2-of-14 shots from 3-point range and turning the ball over on potential fast breaks. Bethel (17-7) used its height advantage to sweep the season series from Benicia (14-6).

“We didn’t make shots and they were just too big for us,” said Benicia head coach Randy Saitz. “Things just didn’t go our way.”

Both teams struggled offensively in the early going. The game was scoreless for the first five minutes until Benicia’s Calei Mendoza scored on a drive to the basket. Bethel didn’t score for the game’s first 6:37 yet trailed only 4-3 after one quarter.

The Lady Panthers led 15-13 at the break, but Bethel went on a 29-12 run in the second half to slowly pull away. Bethel seniors Selena Santos and Jaya Galbraith combined for 19 points in the second half while Benicia imploded.

“We’d get a rebound or break their press and then we’d just hand them the ball,” Saitz complained. “You just can’t do that against a team like that. Once you start giving the ball away, the table turns pretty quickly.”

Kameron Hatcher led Benicia with 12 points and Mendoza added 10.

The Lady Panthers dropped to 4-4 in the Solano County Athletic Conference, one game ahead of Vallejo for the third and final Sac-Joaquin Section playoff spot awarded to the SCAC with two games remaining. Benicia plays at Vallejo on Thursday.

“We have two games left and I think we have to win at least one of the two,” Saitz said.

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