Twins Tower on Court : School’s All-Time High Scorers Also Aim at Rebound Record

Strangers will try just about anything to tell Heather and Heidi Burge apart.

The Burges are 6-foot-4, blonde, identical twins, basketball stars at Palos Verdes High School and headed for the University of Virginia.

Burge watchers say it is not difficult to tell the twins apart on the basketball court--even without looking at their numbers.

There are differences in style. Heather relishes the banging and bumping under the boards while Heidi opts for finesse.

But when you get them off the court, it is a different story. The sisters concede that, even in baby pictures, they look alike.

‘It Freaked Me Out’

“One day I was driving, and Heidi was in the back seat,” Heather said. “And when I looked in the rear-view mirror, I thought I was looking at myself. It freaked me out.”

Said Heidi: “That was the only time we’ve ever gotten ourselves mixed up.”

Friends say it is no problem telling them apart--Heidi’s face is a little rounder, Heather’s more oblong. Heidi wears her hair long, while her sister bobs hers. Friends say you can tell the twins apart by their personalities--Heidi is more outgoing.

The sisters try to make it easier on their friends by wearing different outfits. They are not like the twins in the chewing gum commercials who wear identical clothes. Heather doesn’t think she has a single outfit in common with her sister.

Except for her basketball uniform.

Heidi is averaging 22.3 points per game, Heather 20.2. Despite the fact that she generally plays farther out on the perimeter, Heidi is averaging 14.3 rebounds, 2.2 more than her sister.

Hold Scoring Records

They have become an unstoppable pair in four years at Palos Verdes High. The sisters are the school’s all-time career scorers--Heather has logged 1,297 points and Heidi 1,130--shattering the record of 1983 graduate Hilary Recknor (1,023), who went on to four years of college basketball at Washington and a professional career in Europe.

The sisters are also closing in on Recknor’s school rebounding mark (907). Heather has grabbed 851 career boards and Heidi 808.

The main beneficiary of those numbers is ninth-year Coach Wendell Yoshida, whose team is undefeated after 10 Bay League games. The Sea Kings have won 29 straight in the league going back to last year, including lopsided victories over Santa Monica, 89-6 (that’s right, 6), and Torrance, 79-20.

“But you know, it’s not the 50 combined points, the 30 rebounds I’m going to miss next year,” Yoshida said. “I’m going to miss Heather and Heidi the people . I’ve seen them laugh, cry, sweat and work hard. But basketball is peripheral. It’s always going to be there. What I’m going to miss is having those two around.”

That pleasure will soon belong to Virginia Coach Debbie Ryan. The Burge sisters signed letters of intent with the Cavaliers during the November signing period, choosing Virginia over Vanderbilt, Duke and Washington.

High-Ranked Team

Despite losing all of last year’s starters to graduation after taking Virginia to the NCAA Eastern Regional finals with a victory over Rutgers, Ryan has the Cavaliers ranked 15th in the nation.

Next year the Burges will step into a lineup that features two of the finest freshmen back-court players on the East Coast. Dawn Staley, a 5-foot-5 guard who was named USA Today’s national Player of the Year last season as a prep star in Philadelphia, teams with Tammie Reiss, a 5-foot-8 shooting guard from Eldred, N.Y. Reiss is the Cavs’ leading scorer.

The Burges, who also carry identical 3.8 grade-point averages, have hopes for Olympic competition. The sisters are aiming for the 1992 Barcelona Games, followed by professional ball in the overseas leagues.

As for the present, they have their sights set on this year’s state championship. Heather and Heidi anchored the Palos Verdes team that went 27-8 last year and won the CIF 3-A title and the Southern California regional. But the Sea Kings ran into quicker Sacramento Grant in the state final and lost, 52-49.

Grant’s players went to the boards better than the Burge sisters.

Defense Criticized

“They sent everyone to the boards,” Yoshida said. “And then they pushed the ball up the court and sprayed it all over the place. We weren’t getting back in time. It wasn’t a case of them slugging their offense against our defense. Our defense wasn’t there.”

Palos Verdes has won three games this season in which Heather was sidelined with pneumonia. Of course, in those games against Torrance, Inglewood and Leuzinger, Heidi scored 39, 43 and 29 points.

But the scoring is well distributed. “We’re not a two-dimensional team,” Yoshida said.

The Sea Kings have a deluxe young back court featuring point guard Susan Willhite (11 points per game) and off-guard Lisa Humphreys (11), both juniors. And sophomore guard Kaaren Iverson provides shooting range.

“If you took away the twins’ points alone, I think we’d still win most of our games,” Yoshida said.

But Yoshida is not quite ready to give up the sisters. “They can run, dribble and pass,” he said. “They’re not only tall, but they’re very coordinated. I’m amazed by what they can do.”

Started Out Green

It has not always been that way. When they reached Palos Verdes High four years ago, the Burges were green at basketball.

Said Yoshida: “You didn’t see them when they were freshmen. But I don’t think they’ve had a weekend off in three years. They’ve practiced when they didn’t want to practice. They’ve worked through the tears, the sweat, the hurt, the pain. That’s what made them special. They didn’t make it just because they’re tall. Right now, this attention is just icing on the cake.”

Yoshida was referring to two recent television specials featuring the twins. ESPN aired a short segment on the Burges as part of its national Scholastic Sports America Magazine. The piece was shot in December when Palos Verdes went to New York for the Christ the King Tournament.

Then Prime Ticket filmed a longer feature on the twins for its CIF High School Sports special. The segment shows the twins in separate interviews and then clowning in a parody of the recent movie “Twins”--with Heather play-acting as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Heidi on her knees as Danny DeVito.

The twins’ sense of humor is well known around Palos Verdes High. They have been caught a few times posing as each other while switching classes.

Height No Surprise

The girls have known they would grow tall since they were 3 years old, when a doctor calculated their probable height.

They tower over mother Mary Burge, a 6-footer, who teaches English as a second language in Lawndale. But they still have to look up at father Larry, 6-5, who has a legal practice in Torrance.

“I think he’s shrinking, though,” Heather said.

“That’s one disadvantage to being tall,” Heidi said. “There aren’t a lot of guys our height. There are a lot of advantages in sports. But as far as social life, I’d like to be a little shorter.”

The sisters should take heart. There may be a pair of 6-foot-6 identical twin brothers looming out there somewhere.

“That would be great,” Heather said.