No Showdown Knee Injury Prevents Face-Off Between Hepton Sisters On Opposing College Teams

Courtney Hepton’s last trip to Spokane with the St. Mary’s College basketball team wasn’t what she expected.

Hepton’s senior year was cut short by a preseason knee injury. When the Gaels made the Portland-Gonzaga swing to open West Coast Conference play a couple weeks ago, the 1992 Central Valley High graduate had to spring for her own ticket.

It also meant that she did not get to play against her younger sister Kristin, who is starting this year for the University of Portland.

“I’m going to have surgery in three weeks, so my career is over, unfortunately,” Courtney said last Saturday before St. Mary’s was upset by the Bulldogs.

She tried to get by with arthroscopy, rehab and a brace but her left anterior cruciate ligament didn’t hold up and her senior year ended before it began.

She was coming off a season in which she had averaged 10.4 points and 4.4 rebounds, earning All-WCC honorable mention.

Coincidentally, a knee injury to a Portland player thrust Kristin into the starting lineup. She is averaging more than eight points and six rebounds and had nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds when the Pilots whipped Gonzaga 82-61 at Martin Centre Wednesday night.

Kristin redshirted last year, her first at Portland, also because of a knee injury. As a result, the two sisters, who dominate the CV record book, never had an official chance to trade elbows in college.

“I kind of have mixed feelings,” said Kristin. “We get along real well now, so it is disappointing.”

Courtney doesn’t have the opportunity to redshirt and finish her career next season.

“I haven’t been given that option,” Courtney said. “Coach (Terri Rubenstein) doesn’t believe in it, I don’t know why. I think she gave my scholarship away.”

An art major, Hepton plans to travel before seeking a job. She also will have time to reflect on a college basketball career that really wasn’t fun until it was over.

“It’s the first positive year we’ve really had in terms of a lot of things,” she said. “It would have been a lot of fun.”

In her three years, St. Mary’s was 40-44. Hepton averaged 8.1 points and 4.1 rebounds and started 40 of the 68 games she played in. She was named to the All-Freshman team in 1993. The Gaels were 2-2 in league plays, 12-4 overall, heading into weekend play. Hepton’s career game highs were 22 points and 11 rebounds.

“(College basketball) is extremely physical, mentally and emotionally exhausting,” Hepton said. “When you work that hard and people are not getting along, it’s not fun. I think if I would have known more what to look for in a school, I wouldn’t have gone there. But I don’t regret it. I had a good time and met a lot of neat people. I think it made me a stronger person.”

Hepton’s advice is simple: when picking a school, look at the whole picture.

“(Recruiting) is such a stressful, overwhelming experience,” she said. “As much as you can, talk to everyone, coaches, players and the players they don’t want you to talk to.”

Courtney is still No. 1 on CV’s career scoring list with 1,113 points, 39 points ahead of Kristin. At CV, Courtney twice scored 40 points in a game, Kristin’s best was 30. However, Kristin is No. 1 in rebounds at 694, while Courtney is third.

The Bears went to state all five years the girls were on the team, placing four times. They played together in 1992 when the Bears were 25-4 and fourth at state.

In Courtney’s three years, CV went 69-17 with two fourths and a third at state. The Bears went 75-11 in Kristin’s three years, including a 29-0 state championship season when she was a junior.

Coming off her redshirt season, Kristin was projected as the first player off the bench for the Pilots because of her ability to play any position except point guard. She has started since the season opener when a teammate injured her knee.

In her fourth game she had a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds and had a high of 19 points in her 10th game. Going into tonight’s game against GU in Portland, the Pilots are 3-2 in league play, 12-5 overall.

So, who would have won the showdown between the Hepton sisters had they played?

“We’re two different players,” Kristin said. “I’m a little bigger, I can push her around. She’s a little quicker. It would have been interesting.”

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