Sofia Hepworth’s decorated career at Sugar-Salem was already going to be remembered in eastern Idaho for years to come.
After leading Sugar-Salem to the 3A consolation title, the state of Idaho may remember Hepworth forever.
Hepworth scored 38 points to set the 3A state tournament scoring record. Her Sugar-Salem Diggers doubled up the Marsh Valley Eagles 64-32 to claim the consolation championship.
Hepworth’s 16 field goals also broke the 3A record of 15 held by three players, most recently Shelley Kulm of Jerome in 1996.
Hepworth capped a 16 for 26 performance with a pull-up jumper from the free throw line with two minutes left in the game. The ball swam through the bottom of the net to break the previous record of 37 points set in 1993 by Burley’s Courtney Petersen.
“That was an out of the body experience,” Hepworth said of her final jumper. “It was a good way to end it, to go out with a boom.”
Hepworth played 25 minutes, about five minutes more than her average. Sugar-Salem coach Todd Jensen said he left Hepworth in the blowout to chase the record as a thank-you to his outgoing senior.
Hepworth’s varsity career overlapped with Jensen’s four-year tenure at Sugar-Salem, a partnership that produced two state titles, a third-place finish and now a consolation trophy.
“I felt I had to give something back to her,” Jensen said. “She deserved the chance to have her name in the record books.”
With the win, Sugar-Salem settled a score with Marsh Valley, the only 3A team to beat the Diggers during the regular season.
“We wanted to get some revenge against Marsh Valley,” Jensen said. “We wanted to show them who the better team was, and we did that right off the bat in the first quarter.”
Sugar-Salem played nearly flawless basketball in the first quarter. The Diggers press forced 11 turnovers in the opening period, opening the floodgates for a 22-6 quarter.
Sugar-Salem shot 7 of 13 in the first. Six Diggers scored.
Hepworth shot 4 for 5 and scored 10.
The Sugar-Salem offense slowed down in the second, but the defense held Marsh Valley scoreless. Sugar-Salem held Marsh Valley to 9 percent shooting in the first half and 22.9 percent for the game.
Hepworth said she’ll play junior college ball next year and try to play her way to a Division I scholarship. Hepworth has offers from the College of Southern Idaho, Walla Walla Community College and Salt Lake City Community College, and she said she’ll wait to see if more colleges express interest.
But for now, Hepworth will go home with the game ball from her record-breaking performance. Her scoring record may or may not fall in the coming years, but Hepworth’s name will be in the records section of the 2011 state tournament program.
“It’s great to be in a book,” Hepworth said. “I’ve always wanted to be in a book.”
