Culver City Standout Still Shooting for Top : Preps: Although she started since her freshman season, Jenny Nakanishi made her senior season a very memorable one.

Jenny Nakanishi has been a standout basketball player at Culver City High for the past three seasons, but this season she has taken her game to a higher level. Nakanishi led the Centaurs (17-11) to the semifinals before losing to Costa Mesa, 57-37, Tuesday night in the Southern Section III-A playoffs. “We approached everything as a team, where we liked to have no real superstars,” Culver City Coach Jon Chapman said. “But with Jenny, she is one person who has different standards than the rest of the team.” Nakanishi almost single-handedly led Culver City to the semifinals and scored 14 points in a losing effort. “This has been the funnest year I’ve ever had playing basketball,” Nakanishi said. “Reaching the semifinals is the furthest we’ve ever reached in the playoffs.” Nakanishi has started since her freshman season, when she averaged 18 points a game. As a sophomore, Nakanishi improved her scoring average to 20 points. As a junior, she averaged 25 points and was a first-team All-Division III selection. In three seasons, Nakanishi became the Southern Section career leader in three-point field goals with 202 and is third and fifth on the all-time list for three-point baskets in a season. Despite Nakanishi’s scoring, the best Culver City could do in postseason play was a berth in the quarterfinal round. Last season, the Centaurs lost to Brea-Olinda, 70-41. Entering this season, Nakanishi wanted to improve her game to help take Culver City beyond the quarterfinal round. Nakanishi finished as the 10th-leading Southern Section scorer and was third in three-point shots. During the regular season, she averaged 22.7 points a game. Her rebounding improved from an average of four a game in her first three seasons, to seven this season. “I also think that I’ve become a better defensive player,” the 5-foot-6 Nakanishi said. Although she has been impressive throughout her high school career, Nakanishi has yet to receive a college scholarship offer. Nakanishi, who has a 3.5 grade-point average and was named homecoming queen last fall, realizes this may be her final season as a basketball player. “Yes, it upsets me that I haven’t heard from any schools because I really want to go to college and play basketball,” Nakanishi said. “I don’t know what their reason is, but all the sudden I’m not thought as a player good enough.” Chapman, who has known about Nakanishi’s ability since she was 7, said the senior could be a good player in college. “There just doesn’t seem to be a real awareness about her ability,” he said. “Not only is she a good player, but she is an outstanding student who is involved with several organizations outside of school.” Chapman believes colleges rely too much on summer leagues and invitational camps to scout players. “In my seven years coaching, I’ve only seen two coaches at any of our games and they were there to watch players on the other team,” Chapman said. One local college coach supported Chapman’s claim. “I’ve heard about her, that she can really shoot,” said an assistant at an Orange County University who wanted to remain anonymous. “But, I haven’t seen her play, and we have the people we are recruiting already.” Said Chapman: “She has seen every defense imaginable in an effort to stop her. She has seen double and triple teams to the box-in-one. It got to the point where we didn’t even worry about what defense they were in because she always would get through them.” Nakanishi, who is saddened about the thought of playing her final game at Culver City, remains optimistic about playing in college. At the moment she wants to enjoy her remaining moments in high school. “I’ve had a great career at Culver City,” Nakanishi said. “I just wish that I had one more year to play.”