Partners in Sports, Partners in Life : Prep basketball: Playing in the 4-A finals will be the realization of a dream for West High best friends Rosa Olloque and Mary Litzenberg.

West Torrance High’s Rosa Olloque and Mary Litzenberg have been a tandem for over half a decade, and Friday night’s Southern Section 4-A girls basketball championship game against La Quinta at Cal Poly Pomona represents the culmination of their work--and play--together.

“I’ve always dreamed about this,” said Olloque, a 5-foot-4 point guard averaging 22 points and 8.4 assists a game. “Going to the finals, taking the championship, winning it all.”

Little did Litzenberg know that it would come to this when she first saw Olloque play six years ago. From the beginning, she recognized Olloque as a special athlete, though.

As a sixth-grader, Olloque was playing for a Torrance Parks and Recreation team against Litzenberg.

“She just drove to the basket every time down the court,” said the 5-7 Litzenberg, who has started in the Warriors’ back court opposite Olloque for three seasons. “She was just very aggressive--actually, not much different from the way she is now.”

That one game made quite an impression on Litzenberg, who convinced Olloque to join a Redondo Beach youth basketball team coached by Litzenberg’s father. The two players have been together ever since.

The Warriors’ 23-4 record is largely because of the compatibility of Olloque and Litzenberg, the team’s top scorers, Coach Kevin McManus said.

“They do opposite things,” he said. “So they really complement each other.”

Litzenberg, averaging 14.2 points and 9.9 rebounds, concurred, explaining: “I know her style, and she knows mine. She drives for layups and passes, while I rebound and shoot outside. We always know what we’re going to do because we’ve played together for so long now.”

West’s starting guards first began getting recognition last season, when they were both named All-Ocean League as juniors. This season they have performed even better, helping the Warriors to a second-place Ocean League finish at 12-2.

The average margin in their league wins was 18.8 points, and both of the losses came to powerful Morningside, which plays Lynwood in the 5-AA championship game Friday night at UC Irvine. In one of the losses to the Monarchs, the Warriors held 6-foot-5 Lisa Leslie, who would later score 101 points in one half against South Torrance, to just two points.

Surprisingly, McManus credited his back court for shutting down the Morningside center. “We kept her outside on the perimeter, in the middle of the court, where my players are better than she is,” he said.

McManus also said that the poise of Litzenberg and Olloque enable him to employ a hands-off coaching style.

“I’ve only called one timeout in the playoffs,” he said. “We run and gun, but (Olloque and Litzenberg) are in control out there.

“I don’t have too much to do with it, and that’s the way it should be.”

Litzenberg added: “Experience is probably our biggest strength. We know when to slow it down, when to take shots.

“Like last week against Bishop (Montgomery). We were ahead late in the game, and we knew they would just start fouling us. We were prepared for that situation.”

The Olloque-Litzenberg partnership extends beyond basketball. Olloque was a 14-game winner as a softball pitcher for West last season and has a chance to reach the top of the school’s career victory list. Litzenberg is her catcher.

“She’s great to have as a catcher,” said Olloque, who hopes to play basketball in college. “She’s always giving me advice and trying to build up my confidence.”

Despite her success in both sports, Olloque said she often needs a confidence boost.

“I always get butterflies before a game,” she said. “Ever since I first started playing it’s been that way, even if we’re supposed to have an easy game.

“I’m always nervous. But I feel even more nervous whenever Mary is out of the game.”

Olloque added that Litzenberg’s dependability is crucial to her own success. “I feel more confident when Mary is out there because I know she can do the job,” she said. “It seems like she’s always there for a pass, or if I take a shot she’ll be there for the rebound. We’ve been through a lot together.”

McManus said that their understanding of each other’s role is important.

“Mary’s told me many times, all her life she’s come in second to Rosa,” the coach said. “But they’re together all year round, and have been since the seventh grade. And because of that, Mary doesn’t mind playing that second role, although it’s not really too secondary.”

Indeed, Litzenberg admitted that she has given up trying to outdo Olloque, an All-CIF pick last season, and said that there is no rivalry.

“I try to keep my style and haven’t tried to be a Rosa,” she said. “If we did the same type of things, if we weren’t as different as we are, it would make it easier for other teams to guard us.”

Olloque added, besides being good teammates, “We are good friends.”

Litzenberg said: “I don’t ever get sick of her. In fact, I’m looking forward to softball season with her. It’s not as serious as basketball. Or, at least, it’s a different type of thinking.”

Her role as Olloque’s emotional supporter changes with the seasons.

“She’s more controlled in softball,” Litzenberg said. “It’s slower, so you have to be controlled. My approach with her is different in each sport. Basketball is mostly instincts.” And, clearly, Olloque’s basketball instincts tell her to try to drive to the basket every time she touches the ball. To her, it’s just the obvious thing to do.

“Of course,” she said, “every chance I get, if I see a hole I’ll do it. I’m not scared to drive. I can remember driving to the basket from the very first time I played.”

Olloque added that that intense quest for the hoop relates to her sense of urgency on the court.

“It helps me to be nervous because it makes me more alert,” she said. “That way, I’m aggressive and intense.”

With the steady Litzenberg right behind her every step of the way.