Sarah Heyn had been forewarned.
Here she was, a freshman starting point guard at Westview High School, playing for a coach who had been a starting point guard at Westview.
Not only that, but her coach, Melissa Peng, was the Wolverines’ leading scorer on the only girls basketball team to win a CIF championship at the school.
“I told her from Day 1,” said Peng. “You are in the hardest spot.”
Said Heyn: “She told me, it’s going to be a long four years.”
Heyn is finally a senior. Her high school games are numbered to a few — beginning Friday, when sixth-seeded Westview takes to the road to play third-seeded Cathedral Catholic in the CIF San Diego Section Open Division quarterfinals. Even if Westview loses, the Wolverines are assured of advancing to the Southern California Regionals.
Sitting inside Westview’s gym, with the stands pulled back, the floor wide open and the place quiet as teammates stretched, Heyn said: “I’m going to leave everything on the court. I’m going to give it my all. This is going to be my last time playing for Westview.”
A 5-foot-9 scoring point guard, Heyn is a treat to watch on the floor. On the offensive end, she plays like an athletic boxer, bobbing and weaving against and around defenders. She stomps on the accelerator one moment, seemingly ready to attack the rim, then steps back as if on a yo-yo and buries 3s.
“I think she’s awesome,” said Chris Kroesch, head coach of two-time defending Open Division champion Mission Hills. “It’s her change of pace. She keeps you off balance.
“What I really like about her is the way she sees the floor. I love players who pass the ball well. It shows a different level of IQ. She passes the rock. That makes everyone around her better.”
Heyn, a first-team All-CIF selection last season, leads the Wolverines in scoring (18.2 points per game), assists (5.5) and steals (2.5) and is second in rebounds (5.2).
The Wolverines have qualified for the Open Division playoffs all four years of Heyn’s career. But she has yet to win a CIF title, failing to reach a championship game. She sighs when the subject of zero section championships is brought up.
“That pushes me,” she said.
Westview’s Sarah Heyn shoots against Mission Hills at Westview High School on Wednesday, February. 11 2026 in San Diego. Westview Wolverines defeated Mission Hills Grizzlies 49-43. (Kristian Carreon / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Basketball is a family affair for Heyn. Her sister Sydney, a 6-foot guard, is two years older and starts on a 20-4 Cal Lutheran team. The sisters played together for two years at Westview.
“Anything my sister wanted to do, I wanted to do,” said Sarah. “I’m sure I followed her to her first basketball practice.”
A basketball hoop rests on the street in front of their home. They banged into each other playing in the street as kids, but their dad put an end to that when they became Westview teammates.
Recalled Sarah: “He said, ‘OK, you can’t be mad at each other every day. You have to see each other at school and practice. You have to be nice at home.’”
Now, street hoops are limited to shooting games.
Said Sarah: “If dad comes into the room and says, ‘Let’s go outside,’ we know that’s the cue to put our hair up and lace up our shoes.”
Westview’s Sarah Heyn passes the ball to Mia Jacobson during a match against Mission Hills at Westview High School on Wednesday, February. 11 2026 in San Diego. Westview Wolverines defeated Mission Hills Grizzlies 49-43. (Kristian Carreon / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Sarah Heyn has scored 1,164 points in her Westview career. Peng scored 1,201 and Sydney Heyn 1,242. Both are in Sarah’s reach.
“I think it’d be so funny to see the look on (Peng’s) face,” said Heyn about surpassing her coach.
And if she zoomed past her sister?
“I’ll rub it in her face,” Sarah said.
The school record for career points is 1,312 set by Katie Girten, who graduated in 2007. Heyn would almost certainly have passed Girten had she not missed the first 10 games of the season while training with the Philippines national team and playing four games in the Southeast Asian Games.
The Philippines, which had players in their 30s, won the tournament with Heyn coming off the bench. It was the first time Heyn traveled to the Philippines, where her mother was born.
“I went to church with teammates, made breakfast with them every morning. They were like my moms,” Heyn said. “It made me feel closer to my culture.”
Heyn will play next season at UC Santa Barbara, which is coached by former Cal State San Marcos boss Renee Jimenez.
Off the court, Heyn can be playful, making TikTok videos with teammates and lightening the mood in the locker room before games.
“She likes to make us all laugh,” said four-year teammate Makena McLaughlin.
That mood changes at tipoff.
“When she’s locked in,” said Peng, “you don’t want to stand in her way. She’ll do whatever it takes to win the game.”
As Peng watched her players sprint through a lay-up drill, she had one last thought about Heyn.
“The sky’s the limit for her,” the coach said. “It’ll be fun to see her journey.”