Nava Hopes She Can Do It All for Cypress : Basketball: Centurion returns as one of the county’s most versatile players after averaging 17 points, 15 rebounds and six blocked shots last season.

All right, so she can’t dunk.

But Lupe Nava of Cypress High School will be expected to do just about everything else for the Centurion girls’ team this season.

Score. Rebound. Block shots. Anchor the press. Handle the ball. Be a leader. . . .

Well, you get the idea. The rest of the Empire League, however, already knows all about Nava.

As a junior last season, the 6-foot Nava earned all-league honors after averaging 17 points, 15 rebounds and six blocked shots. She dominated inside and outside, and helped lead Cypress to the league title and the Division 3-A quarterfinals.

Despite those credentials, Nava was somewhat overlooked last year because the Empire League also featured Cypress teammate and league MVP Francis Oda and Loara prep all-American Tracy Titus (both now graduated). Still, even if fans weren’t too familiar with Nava, opposing coaches have taken notice.

“I saw more than I wanted to see of (Nava) last year, and I know I’m going to see even more this year,” Esperanza Coach Marc Hill said. “Lupe Nava is the most underrated player in the county. She does it all, and the sad thing for the rest of us is she’s not even close to tapping her potential.”

Cypress Coach Denise Selbe agrees that Nava, who has signed a letter of intent to play at the University of New Mexico, is still developing.

“Lupe still has a lot of raw talent,” Selbe said. “The coaches at New Mexico made a really smart move to sign her early because she’ll just keep getting better as she discovers all the things she’s capable of.”

Among the things Selbe says Nava is capable of this season is playing point guard. Opponents can expect to see Nava bringing the ball up court on a regular basis.

“She runs like a gazelle and she’s very quick,” Selbe said. “Just because she’s played inside in the past, people think she can’t handle the ball and play guard, but believe me, she can.”

Nava got her first game action at guard during a summer league contest, and discovered that comments from a coach aren’t the only ways to get motivated.

“The first time I brought the ball up, somebody in the stands yelled, ‘Somebody go guard her, come on, she’s a center ,’ ” Nava said. “That made me kind of mad because they were stereotyping me as big, slow and clumsy, and it made me want to work harder.

“Now that I’m getting more confident handling the ball, I’ll just let them think that. It works to my benefit.”

Nava, who also plays volleyball and competes in track and field, agrees with Selbe and other coaches who say she hasn’t reached her potential. Before coming to Cypress, her only organized basketball experience was four games in the eighth grade.

“I liked playing all sports when I was younger, but I never really took it seriously until I got to Cypress,” she said. “Then I felt like I should do something with my ability, and basketball was what I wanted to do most.

“I still don’t think I’m as good as I can be, but I put a lot of time and effort into it to make sure I keep improving.”

Nava, who also led Cypress in steals last year, is in her third year as a varsity starter. After watching Nava quietly dominate the last two seasons, Selbe expects this to be the year she shows all her skills. Actually, Selbe says, it goes beyond expectations.

“As a team, we need Lupe to be aware of and use all the abilities she has,” Selbe said. “The last couple of years, she’s showed some great moves in practice, and then in the game she won’t use them. I think she understands now, though, that there’s no sense in limiting herself.”

In Nava’s opinion, the great moves haven’t come out in the past for some pretty good reasons. “I like to keep things fundamental, and if the fundamentals are working, why try something fancy you might mess up?” she said. “I don’t like the spotlight or attracting a lot of attention to myself. When I need to make a tough move to help the team, I’ll try it, but I’d rather stay with something basic if it’s just as effective.”

When reminded those strong moves might help her play at guard, Nava laughed.

“I hope Coach Selbe didn’t tell you I was going to play guard all the time,” Nava said. “I’ve grown from 5-11 to a little over 6-feet since last year, so I’m a little closer to the basket now. I think the plan is for me to take advantage of that, too.”

Actually, the plan is for Lupe Nava to do whatever she can. That should be more than enough for the Centurions.