PSJA North's Carolina Sanchez (1) dribbles on past PSJA High's Ileanna Martinez (3) during the first half of a girls basketball game at LBJ Middle School main gym on Tuesday, Feb.02,2021. Special To The Monitor Julio Montalvo

PHARR — Few players seniors across South Texas can claim a basketball resume as lengthy or impressive as PSJA North’s Carolina Sanchez.

Venerated by teammates, respected by peers and feared by opponents, there’s little that Sanchez has yet to accomplish for North on the basketball court.

The Raiders’ point guard has led her team to a staggering 105-24 record during her four-year varsity career and established herself as one of the Rio Grande Valley’s premier offensive playmakers during that stretch.

“It feels great to know that people look up to me because I feel like I’ve made a mark,” she said. “I just want people to know that as long as you’re working hard for the things you want, you’ll get to where you need to be.”

Sanchez has given PSJA North a veteran presence on the court this season en route to a 17-3 regular-season record, a second-place finish in District 31-6A and a No. 6 overall ranking in The Monitor’s High School Girls Basketball Top 10.

After joining the 1,000 career points club during the Raiders’ first game of the season, Sanchez has powered far beyond that mark during a record-setting senior campaign.

North’s starting point guard has soared to the best statistical season of her high school career, becoming the career scoring leader (1,366) among active players across the Rio Grande Valley and the only current player to surpass 1,300 career points scored.

She has also earned the designation as Hidalgo County’s leading scorer, after averaging 18.8 points per night through 20 games so far this season.

“I’ve been training really hard at practice with school and then on the side, too,” Sanchez said. “I try my hardest to train as much as I can because I really do want to go out and play college basketball. This season has been really difficult, but it hasn’t stopped me from putting work in.”

Sanchez’s relentless work ethic has made her the ring leader of the Valley’s most prolific big three.

Together, sophomore forward Emma Lucio, junior center Trinity Bane and Sanchez have become the RGV’s most unstoppable trio on the hardwood.

PSJA North Emma Lucio (23) splits defenders McAllen Memorial Kimberly Trevino (21 and Valeria Garcia (15) during a District basketball game at PSJA North gymnasium on Tuesday, Jan.21, 2020 in Pharr. Photo by Delcia Lopez/The Monitor [email protected]

Bane, Lucio and Sanchez all rank among the top 12 scorers throughout the Rio Grande Valley, each averaging more than 15 points per game and feeding off one another to fuel PSJA North’s postseason push.

“I’ve grown as a player because I’ve received really good advice from my coaches and my teammates from the past years I’ve been at North,” said Sanchez, who credited her coaches and teammates with instilling in her a new level of confidence. “All the support that I’ve received from my coaches, teammates, & family has helped.”

“Caro is a great team player. She’s helped out our team a whole lot from helping us to be calm on the court to helping on what we need to work on. She’s helped me personally with experience these last two years,” Lucio said. “She showed me many things on how to be patient with the ball and having confidence in me to take it if I have it. I’m going to miss playing with her because she’s showed me a whole lot and she’s just a great player, teammate and friend all around.”

Bane, Lucio and Sanchez have combined to average 49.4 of their team’s collective 59.4 points per game this season, thanks in large part to their complementary skill sets and communication on the floor.

Their chemistry on the court has also helped Sanchez tally a career-high 4.8 assists per game and develop into one of the top distributors offensively in South Texas.

“When I receive pressure I distribute the ball to my teammates so that way it takes some pressure off of me, which causes my teammates to be the center of attention,” Sanchez said. “Then once the defense starts covering my teammates, it allows me to get open scoring looks”

“It’s taken so much weight off my shoulders with them being there because they are such a big help to our team,” Lucio said. “I can depend on both Caro and Trinity knowing that they’ll both hit that shot when they need to. I’m just thankful to have them on the court with me.”

Edinburg High’s Julissah Santa Maria (15) and PSJA North’s Trinity Bane (32) battle for the ball in a District 31-5A game at Edinburg High School on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in Edinburg. (Joel Martinez | [email protected])

Bane’s elite defensive presence on the interior has also allowed Lucio, Sanchez and the rest of the Raiders to be more aggressive on that end of the floor, which has led to ample transition scoring opportunities.

That potent combination has made PSJA North one of the Valley’s most dangerous teams despite multiple quarantines that led to a chaotic finish to the regular season.

“It’s super tiring to play back-to-back games after being in quarantine. … It’s also scary because at any moment we don’t know when our last game will be,” Sanchez said. “I think that our team has handled this COVID situation pretty well because even though we had to play back-to-back games, we still fought through it and still managed to be one of the top teams. We are just really grateful to still have the opportunity to be playing in the playoffs.”

PSJA North tips off its playoff push at 7 p.m. Thursday, when it hosts Harlingen South in the Class 6A bi-district round, but Lucio, Sanchez and the Raiders have plans of playing deep into the postseason.

“Our team goal is to go farther than just one or two rounds,” Lucio said. “With the right mindset and hard work we put in, I think we are able to accomplish that.”

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Twitter: @ByAndyMcCulloch