MISSION — No one has ever been able to keep PSJA North’s Trinity Bane away from the hardwood.
Bane, a three-year varsity starter for the Raiders at center, first got the itch to jump onto the basketball court nearly a decade ago and was determined to not take no as an answer when she first asked to play competitively.
“I started in elementary. I actually signed myself up because my mom didn’t want to do it for me,” she said. “I did it and ever since I’ve just pushed through and kept doing it. Now I’m here thanks to a lot of practice.”
Once she reached the varsity level, Bane blossomed into one of the Rio Grande Valley’s premier defenders and fortified PSJA North’s presence down low.
She quickly developed into a prolific shot blocker and interior defender, anchoring the Raiders on that end of the floor.
As a junior, Bane led the Valley in blocked shots and PSJA North into the area round of the Class 6A playoffs to earn The Monitor’s All-Area Girls Basketball Defensive Player of the Year award for the 2020-21 season.
“It feels great representing our school and really just putting our name on the map,” Bane said. “It feels really good, especially with our team that worked so hard to do it.”
Her dominant start to her high school career can be attributed in large part to Bane’s infatuation with the sport and her family’s support.
She quickly converted her mother into her biggest fan after showing her potential on the court from a young age.
PSJA North head coach Randy Bocanegra and his staff also noticed Bane’s bright basketball future early on and encouraged her to pursue and keep working toward a promising hoops career.
“It was a love-at-first-sight kind of thing,” she said. “My coaches, my mom and my aunt all just push me to do better. Coach Bocanegra and all of the coaches just really helped, too. They would always tell me that I could do it and stuff like that to pump me up.”
Bane, who stands at 6-foot-4 as a junior, was pressured to pick up other sports where her height and frame would give her a competitive advantage.
But she instead chose to fully commit to basketball, determined to become the most well-rounded player she could be.
“I was told to play volleyball, but I didn’t like it; I like basketball,” Bane said. “Basketball has more contact and I like to feel that contact. I like to get into the action and fight for the ball. If I’m on the floor, it just feels good to be in the middle of the action.”
Bane became the crux of the Raiders’ Big 3 that asserted itself as the RGV’s most dangerous basketball trio.
She joined senior point guard Carolina Sanchez and sophomore forward Emma Lucio in forming a potent and complementary group in PSJA North’s starting lineup.
Sanchez, the Rio Grande Valley’s leading career scorer among all active players, and Lucio, one of the Valley’s brightest rising stars, were near perfect fits offensively next to their starting center.
Their range and consistency from deep allowed Bane the space to flash her post moves and athleticism in the paint, while Sanchez and Lucio’s explosiveness created a plethora of pick-and-roll opportunities for PSJA North.
Together, Bane, Lucio and Sanchez became the only trio of teammates to each rank among the Rio Grande Valley’s 12 leading scorers from every classification level.
“It’s a really good (combination),” she said. “Caro is a really great ball-handler and Emma, she goes in (the lane) and shows no mercy. It’s really good to have teammates like that when you can depend on them so much.”
Bane made her mark as an authoritative shot-blocker during a breakout junior season.
She posted new career highs in points (15.5), rebounds (11.1) and steals (1.7) per game on 47% shooting, while averaging a double-double for the first time during her varsity tenure.
Bane also tallied 4.5 blocks per contest — her second straight year averaging 4.5 or more — to lead all RGV players in total blocks (94) during a condensed season.
“Hitting the ball like that just makes me feel good,” Bane said. “It plays a big role in the game. Having a defensive player that can alter shots like that can make you lose games.”
“Timing is very important. You can’t touch them, obviously, or they’re going to call a foul. I used to get a lot of fouls, but my coach told me to just keep my hands up,” she added. “I started listening to him and every time someone would get near me and shoot it, I’d go up and block it. It felt really good doing that.”
Even when she wasn’t swatting basketballs into the bleachers, Bane’s elite defensive presence down low consistently altered PSJA North’s opponents’ shots and game plans.
The junior twice recorded double-doubles with blocks and points in games this season — the fifth and sixth time during her varsity career — including a 16-point, 10-block night during a 71-70 overtime win against PSJA High in the Tri-City Classic.
That performance left its mark on the Bears, who opted to attack the Raiders from the 3-point line in a late-season rematch where Bane again dominated in a narrow PSJA North victory.
“It felt good to make them feel sorry,” she said. “The posts for PSJA High, that’s where the most damage was done against other teams. We had to shut that down. That’s what opened up the outside and made them shoot out there.”
Bane helped lead the Raiders to a second-place finish in District 31-6A and earned the district’s Defensive Player of the Year award.
She also helped PSJA North secure a blowout bi-district playoff victory against Harlingen South, before being knocked out by Laredo United in the area round, while notching 37 points, 20 rebounds and six blocks in those two postseason games.
Now, Bane prepares to enter her senior season as North’s veteran leader with plans of building on this season’s successes.
“We want to be district champs. We want to beat everybody and go far into the playoffs,” Bane said. “We really need to (focus on) getting good chemistry going with the team, especially since Caro is leaving. She would do that for us, so I want to keep doing that and motivate my teammates to be better and be a good team overall.
“I think we can make it to the Sweet 16. We just have to be positive, confident that we can do it and push hard.”
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Twitter: @ByAndyMcCulloch
