KAMERON HATCHER of Benicia goes strong to the basket against visiting American Canyon.

Benicia High’s girls varsity basketball team ended the first half with a 28-2 run and coasted to a 47-26 victory over visiting American Canyon on Friday.

The Lady Panthers got off to a horrible start and didn’t get on the scoreboard until the 4:05 mark of the first quarter when Michelle Li scored on a running floater to make it 8-2. Then with a flick of a switch, Benicia turned things around. Elizabeth Sweeney scored inside, Calei Mendoza buried a 3-pointer and Li hit two free throws to put Benicia ahead, 9-8.

Li kept things going with a three-point play, Emma Ward followed with a 3-pointer and Sweeney scored again off a nice pass from Mendoza to make it 17-8. Jessica Maguire ended Benicia’s 15-0 run with a field goal two minutes into the second quarter, but the Lady Wolves wouldn’t score again the remainder of the half as Benicia took a commanding 30-10 lead.

Li led all scorers with 15 points and added six rebounds, five assists and four steals. Sweeney finished with nine points and five rebounds, Mendoza had seven points and Kameron Hatcher had four steals.

Benicia improved to 12-4 overall and 3-2 in the Solano County Athletic Conference, good enough for sole possession of third place midway through the league schedule. The top three SCAC teams qualify for the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs.

The Lady Panthers play at St. Patrick-St. Vincent on Saturday night and at first-place Vanden on Tuesday.

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