By ANDREW CRUM, Staff Writer
A trio of seniors has helped lead Brownsville First Baptist to the TAPPS state semifinals.
Ana Balcazar, Elisabeth Roberts and Audrey Bogart have been the centerpiece of the Crusaders’ frontcourt during the past four years. Each has steadily improved and hopes to lead their team to just two more victories this season.
“(Balcazar and Roberts) have been four-year starters and (Bogart) has started most games in those four years,” First Baptist coach Terry Roberts said. “These three have been together, they’ve been the rock of the team. They are not the flashiest players, but they are stable and strong. Those are the players that you build your team around.”
And that’s what the First Baptist coach has done with some familiar faces.
Balcazar is the team’s power forward, Roberts is center and the daughter of the coach, and Bogart is a small forward and the daughter of assistant Marty Bogart.
The elder Roberts was a boys basketball coach in North Carolina prior to his current position as coach and superintendent of First Baptist. He began coaching the girls team to have the opportunity to coach his daughters, first Hannah and now Elisabeth.
“My daughters are the reason I’ve coached here,” he said. “They’re the motivation for me to coach.”
None of the seniors are prolific scorers, as each averages about eight points or less for the Crusaders. Junior guard Sandy Masso is the team’s leading scorer. The frontcourt rebounds and plays defense, among other things that don’t always show up in the stats.
“Our team is really well-balanced,” said Elisabeth Roberts, a senior post player. “Coach Bogart always goes back and looks at the film and marks the things each person does to contribute to our success.”
Fellow senior Audrey Bogart concurred.
“The coaches are good at reminding us that everyone has a vital role, even if it doesn’t show up on the stat sheet,” she said. “Our game MVPs don’t always involve the leading scorer. It could be the person that hustles the most. By the middle of the season, I got in my head what it means to be a good player. I heard offense sells tickets, but defense wins games, so that kind of stuck with me.”
With the team built as it is, oftentimes no one reaches double figures but nine or 10 different girls will score during a game. The senior group doesn’t feel any added pressure to perform, except to encourage their teammates and help them through tough times.
“I do feel the need to encourage and keep that stability,” Audrey Bogart said. “To be a positive influence on the other girls.”
Balcazar added, “I feel like my role as a team player is to encourage them. Some of them are freshmen, and it’s good to hear encouraging words from a senior who has already played more and had those experiences, those butterflies.”
The seniors have a certain toughness about them. That has developed from not playing any true home games. First Baptist doesn’t have a regulation-sized gym, so every game is essentially an away game for the Crusaders.
“Different is normal for us,” Terry Roberts said. “Most of our games are like away games. It’s probably toughened us up a little. We’re in the process of building a new building, so hopefully (we’ll have home games) in a couple years.”
The First Baptist coach thinks this is the best team he’s had since his start seven years ago and certainly the most well-balanced. It starts with the talented trio in the frontcourt, and each of them have thought about what it would mean to go out on top.
“It would mean a lot to thank my parents, supporting the sport I play,” Balcazar said. “For my coaches, all their work and dedication, all the sacrifices they’ve put into it.”
For Audrey Bogart and Elisabeth Roberts, it’s a lasting basketball moment with their coaching fathers.
“My dad was my first coach in middle school,” Bogart said. “It impacts my heart, I adore my dad. We’ve grown together because of that. Every game we pray before and after, whether we win or lose, and it’s all about glorifying God in everything we do.”
And Roberts added, “I would count it as a blessing. It would make my dad proud of me and the team he has coached. We’d both be really happy.”
Andrew Crum covers sports for The Brownsville Herald. You can reach him at (956) 982-6629 or via email at [email protected]. On Twitter he’s @andrewmcrum.