Over the past three years, Heather Hansen has led Mountain View High School in Orem, Utah, to consecutive Class 4A state championships--including a number-one year-end ranking in the 2001-2002 ESPN rankings.

Hansen has helped Mountain View rack up a 93-7 record during her four years as a varsity starter. She closed out her high school career by averaging 15.2 points, 5.0 rebounds, 6.1 assists, and 5.3 steals per game during her senior season, which ended with 21-2 Mountain View earning the eighth spot in the USA Today Super 25 rankings.

After Hansen was named to the Salt Lake Tribune's All-State Team for the third straight year, she was lauded by Mountain View Head Coach Dave Houle. "She is a born leader who leads by action," Houle told the newspaper. "Any time we struggled, she would put a big basket in for us."

The 5-8 point guard also was named Utah Miss Basketball and Gatorade's State Player of the Year. Her leadership qualities were a major factor in the team's success. "She was an extension of me on the floor," Houle told the Deseret News. "She guided and directed the team. She kept things on track. Even when it got so loud they couldn't hear me calling out the offense, I'd look down there and she'd be running what I'd called."

Heather isn't the only stellar hoopster in the family--her twin sister Hollie has also played varsity for Mountain View the past four years, leading the team with nearly nine steals and six assists per game this season. Their father told the Deseret News the twins' close relationship carries over to the court.

"When they play together, their comfort level kind of goes through the roof," Scott Hansen said. "They kind of feed off each other. They know how to create offense for themselves or how to get the ball to each other. The biggest thing is they trust each other."

Agreed Houle, "When Heather was off, Hollie would pick up the slack. It was like a sixth sense they had about each other."

The twins are carrying on the Hansen family's hoops tradition--their older brother Travis stars for Brigham Young's men's team. It's no surprise, then, that the twins will be joining Travis at BYU in the fall, even though they know they'll be following in some big footsteps.

"I'm nervous just because it is something new," Heather told BYU's SportZone Web site. "He [Travis] has been really successful. The coaches will expect us to work as hard as he does...I'm just putting a lot of pressure on myself to play really well. I'm confident if I work as hard as he [Travis] does, I'll be fine."

Article written by Gball Associate Editor Jim Catalano.

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