As fans beat on drums from the stands, Sarah Heyn (12) shifted to outside the three-point line, making herself open for a pass from her teammate. It was the first quarter of the Gilas Pilipinas Women Basketball Team’s match against Singapore in the group stage of the 2025 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, and they were up by one point, 19-18. When the ball came into her hands, Heyn drove it forward, dribbling past four players of the opposite team before leaping into a layup, sinking the ball into the net. Three quarters later, the match ended in a resounding 92-59 victory for the Philippines, Dec. 14. 

     In December 2025, Heyn played for Gilas Pilipinas Women in the SEA Games, representing her nation as the second youngest player on the team. After matches against nations across Southeast Asia, Gilas won the women’s basketball title, Dec. 19.

“[Winning] the gold medal was surreal,” Heyn said. “I never thought in my life that I would get handed a gold medal for an international tournament.”

Held every other year, the SEA Games is an international multi-sport competition comprised of the 11 countries of Southeast Asia. Hosted by Thailand in 2025, the event gathered more than 13,000 athletes across 50 medal sports. Heyn, a player on Westview girls basketball, was invited to join the Gilas Pilipinas Women’s team for the prestigious tournament.

After a summer talent exposure camp in Las Vegas in 2025, a Gilas commissioner was impressed by Heyn’s abilities and kick-started a process to have her added to the SEA Games roster. Heyn said having the opportunity to represent her nation was surreal.

“It felt amazing to be representing my country for the first time,” she said. “It’s something I never imagined. Playing for your country and carrying that weight on your shoulders is such an unforgettable experience.”

Prior to the SEA Games, Heyn joined the team for a three-week training program in the Philippines. Here, she familiarized herself with the team’s playing style.

“The [Gilas] playing style is a lot different from the States,” she said. “Our [Gilas] coach described it as ‘organized chaos,’ so we have a lot of freedom and actions that we can play off of. There’s a lot of structure when we play in the States, but over there, since everyone is older and more experienced, they have more playing freedom.”

Despite initial difficulties adjusting to a new system, Heyn said she was able to acclimate. 

“Everyone was cutting and driving without particular signs or signals,” she said. “It was all happening so fast, so it was a bit hard to adjust in the beginning. But by my last week of practice, I felt in the system, and I understood everything that was happening.”

Going into the SEA Games, Gilas was prepared to make its mark. As the runner-ups in the 2023 SEA Games and the champions in the two editions prior to 2023, they were determined to reclaim their title. In the first match, Heyn played a different style of basketball according to international rules.

“In our first game against Malaysia, I didn’t know what to expect,” she said. “I didn’t know how the other team would play, and the rules are different for overseas basketball. This meant the three-point lines were farther, and certain plays like going backcourt when you pass it in weren’t allowed. With it being my first time on the national stage, there were a lot of variables, and [I] was the most nervous I’ve been.”

Gilas defeated their first opponents in a close 76-67 victory, and Heyn continued to warm up to the court as Gilas smashed through the group phase of the tournament. A subsequent victory against Singapore gave them a straight bid to the semifinals. Against Singapore, Heyn was one of the team’s top scorers with 16 points in the match. Because of Gilas’ straight qualification for semifinals, they had three days of rest.

“The waiting period made me nervous,” Heyn said. “While the other teams were still playing [in the quarterfinals], we were resting.”

In the semifinals,  Gilas faced Indonesia. 

“It was a big game for my teammates because Indonesia beat us last time in the [SEA Games 2023] finals,” Heyn said. “It felt personal, and we were facing the defending champions. There was a lot of pressure on that game, but we beat them, and I began to realize that we could actually win this.”

Pitted against Thailand in the final, the team battled through an intense match. Throughout it, Heyn said the presence of passionate fans was a source of inspiration as she represented her country on the court.

“People would come with drums and flags,” she said. “It was a crazy atmosphere with everyone decked out in their country’s colors, all chanting the same things. It was so cool to have people care about the sport so much. It’s not like representing a school or a club; you’re representing an entire homeland. When the country is cheering for you and showing up for you, it’s so meaningful. It made me want to play even harder.”

 As the final buzzer blared, the score read 73-70, giving Gilas their third title in the last four SEA Games. Heyn said the experience of winning gold in Southeast Asia was unparalleled.

“When the time expired, I was linking arms on the bench with my teammates,” she said. “It felt crazy. I’ve won tournaments before for club and school, but I don’t think anything has compared to the feeling of winning the SEA Games.”

As she celebrated the team’s victory with her team, she said she also felt a sense of melancholy.

“I was so happy, but I was also sad at the same time,” Heyn said. “When I was hugging my older teammates, I remembered them telling me this was the last time they were going to represent [the nation]. They kept thanking me and others for working so hard, and it meant a lot to me. There was so much happiness, but it was also bittersweet.”

Beyond attaining an international gold medal, Heyn said the experience gave her the opportunity to form a close-knit community with the other athletes.

“When I was in the Philippines practicing [before the tournament], I stayed with two of my teammates,” she said. “I got really close with them and consider them not just my teammates but also my sisters. Because many of them were older than me, I also saw them as aunts because of how they took care of me. They are like a family to me.”

Representing the national team also gave Heyn an opportunity to connect with her family in the Philippines. She said having their support coming into the SEA Games meant a lot to her.

“I got to meet a lot of my family members in the Philippines,” Heyn said. “So many of my cousins and aunties texted me every game to wish me luck. I felt like I was playing for my mom, my lola and lolo, and my entire family. They were the whole reason I was there.”

Returning to the United States, Heyn said she feels like she has grown as a player. As she now tackles her final high school basketball season at Westview, she is implementing the skills and mentality she’s learned from her teammates in Gilas.

“My teammates in the Philippines taught me a lot about how to see the play in a different way,” Heyn said. “There’s not a lot of structure, meaning you have to play off your own game and timing. I think that’s the biggest thing I learned. I didn’t just go through the motions with rehearsed plays, I learned to adjust to my own timing and make plays that are right for the exact moment. Coming [back to Westview] now, I’m a lot more vocal with my team. I’ve been telling them that it’s okay to slow down. There’s no rush to it, and what’s important is that everything flows.”

Next fall, Heyn will continue her basketball career on UC Santa Barbara’s Division I team. Between school, club, national team, and now college basketball, Heyn said the sport has been an inseparable part of her life.

“I’ve been playing basketball since I was 5 years old because of my sister,” she said. “Being the little sister, I wanted to follow in her footsteps, and since then, it’s been my No. 1 sport. I use basketball as a space to get away from all the noise. The sport has really helped me grow and make connections. It’s made me my best friends, who I’d consider sisters, especially playing overseas with the Philippines. I’m really thankful that I was able to fall in love with [basketball].”