Tafralis does it all

"My mindset has always been on defense and all the other areas besides scoring," said Tafralis, the Daily Journal's Athlete of the Week. "I've always been one to hesitate on my shots; if I miss a couple, I'll stop shooting. But defensively I know I can always lay it out there. Sal (coach Dan Salvemini) calls me to do the dirty work."

It's a role the senior four-year varsity player relishes. You can't judge Tafralis' value to the Mills High girls' basketball team by points because she provides the intangibles every squad needs in order to win a championship. She'll dive for the loose ball, stay underneath the basket to grab offensive rebounds and lock up the opposing team's best player.

When Tafralis does score, it's a sweet bonus. That's exactly what the 5-foot-7 wing did last week in a pair of victories. She had 10 points in a 56-53 overtime triumph over San Mateo before finishing with 13 points and 13 rebounds in a 53-31 rout of Capuchino. It's believed to be the first time in Tafralis' prep career that she's scored in double-figures in back-to-back games.

"Alexa has emerged as a team leader in the locker room and on the court," Salvemini said. "She plays big in big games. If she wasn't playing basketball and they had a women's football league she'd be the free safety because of her anticipation and ability to read the game. When she's not on the court, her absence is felt."

Tafralis has come a long way. As a freshman, she had a hard time successfully dribbling to the basket and converting a layup. That's when former Mills coach Kelly Shea-Gallo pulled Tafralis aside and taught her the basic fundamentals of the sport. It's one of the many lessons -- on and off the court -- that Tafralis uses from her former mentor to this day. And that's why when Tafralis won the Kelly Shea-Gallo award for her inspiring play at the Mills Tournament early in the season, she viewed it as one of the great moments in her life.

"(Winning that award) meant so much to me," Tafralis said. "I remember (former teammate) Marissa Gutierrez winning it the first year and thinking how great it was. I still talk to Kelly's kids (Mia and Chloe), so the connection is still there."

While basketball is far and away her favorite sport, Tafralis is a three-sport standout, having played volleyball all four years -- two on the varsity -- and competing in varsity track and field her freshman and sophomore years (she didn't compete last year for personal reasons). Tafralis comes from a long heritage of athletic greatness.

Her dad, Gregg, was ranked among the top-10 shot putters in the world in the late 1980s to early '90s, and he finished sixth in the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. Alexa's brother, Adam, has been a key cog in the San Jose State football team's resurgence as the team's starting quarterback. He also was a standout at Mills. So does Alexa feel any pressure because of her family lineage?

"Not really," she said. "The only pressure I ever feel is in track because I know the expectations to succeed are higher."

Tafralis wants to play hoops in college, but it's her exploits throwing the shot put and discus that has colleges interested in her. Tafralis said that a couple of Division I universities have offered her track and field scholarships, but she's undecided on where she's headed because she's intent on playing basketball at the next level.

"I'm debating whether I want to pursue track," she said. "They make the girls so manly shaped and huge. I'm not afraid to get too ripped, but with my family's big bone structure, I wouldn't want to test the waters. I'm not into the whole dead lifts and clean and jerk. I remember when it was my turn to do Olympic lifts I used to get water and run from the coaches and pretend I was doing something to avoid those power lifts at all costs. I used to get in trouble all the time."

Tafralis is a certified health nut. She practically spends more time at the gym than at her home, and even works out before every game. She works out every morning before school and does yoga once the school day is done. Tafralis once bench-pressed 125 pounds and squatted more than 200. She is a picture of contrasts, pumping iron one moment and "cutting hair, doing makeup and dressing with girlfriends" the next.

Tafralis loves the team atmosphere on the Mills squad, something that's been close to her heart since she started playing her freshman year. A couple of years before Shea-Gallo died, Tafralis' grandmother, Claire, succumbed to leukemia.

"All these are signals to not live with regret," Tafralis said. "I want to live large and live on edge."

Judging by the way she goes all out on the hardwood, Tafralis is doing exactly that.