Heck no longer shy about scoring

It's hard to believe that at one point in her basketball career, Lauren Heck was afraid to shoot the ball.

Heck, a senior on the Aurora Christian girls basketball team, used to hesitate to shoot the ball in middle school and junior high.

Coaches wondered why. Looking back, Heck ponders that same thought.

"I don't know why I wasn't shooting," Heck said. "Now, I don't stop. I think it's confidence. I'm more comfortable."

Is she ever. For the past two years, she has led the Eagles in scoring. In her sophomore year, she was one of three players who led the team in scoring at around 8 points a game.

As a junior, she led the way with her 10.8 points per game. This year, in 21 games, she's scored a total of 335 points for an average of 16 a game, which is third in the Tri-Cities Area.

"You can see girls who want to shoot the ball and you see girls who don't want to shoot the ball," Aurora Christian coach Dan Stone said. "When Lauren touches the ball, there's a really great chance she's going to go off."

There's been a few times this year Heck has done just that. Her best game was a 35-point effort in what Stone called, "the biggest win in the history of the program" -- a 56-51 victory over Wheaton Academy Dec. 7.

Heck summed up the game as a "really big win" that avenged a bad loss the year before. Stone said many things contributed to the win, but Heck was a huge factor.

The 35 points was one point shy of points scored in a single game, set by Rachel Thompson, a 1999 graduate.

"Lauren just took over," Stone said. "She was driving, making free throws…all the things you have to have from your key players to win a game."

Heck scores her points every way possible. Whether it's driving to the basket (something she's really improved on since last year), connecting on 3-pointers (she averages 1.2 a game) or at the free throw line, the ball finds its way in the basket somehow.

"I'm not sure if I have a favorite way to score," Heck said. "I guess whenever I get open."

"When we need a big shot, we are going to look to Lauren," Stone added. "She's not afraid to take the shot."

Heck does not keep a mental tab of how many points she's scoring during a game, even though she's had several 20-point-plus games. That same week she dropped 35 against Wheaton Academy, she scored 28 in the win against Serena.

"I just love playing basketball," Heck said. "Of course I want to get points on the board and my goal was to be the top scorer (on the team), but I've really just relaxed."

She has 893 career points, which is second at Aurora Christian behind Thompson, who finished with 1,545 points.

There's still at least 6 games left on the schedule. Who knows where Heck will stop. She has also made 65 career 3-point shots, which is currently third on the all-time list (86 is second place).

"Maybe she'll get to 400 points (this season), who knows," Stone said. "Who knows when she is going to stop."

But there is more to Heck than just her scoring. She is a team captain and also averages 3.3 steals and 3.7 rebounds a game.

"If we were missing Lauren, we'd be missing a lot," said teammate and friend Casey Smar. "She's very valuable to our team, even when she is not scoring points. She does a lot of other little things people don't even realize."

Will Heck be doing all these things for a college team next year? She said she'd love to continue playing, but she is keeping her options open.

"I'd love to play at the next level," Heck said. "I'm looking at colleges…I just really want to play. I'd like to experience that at the next level."

Replacing Heck next year will no doubt be tough.

"We are going to miss her a lot," Stone said. "It's going to be hard to replace all those points from one person."