Celayas: Rubber Soul Sisters : Magical Mystery Tour at North Hollywood Led by Non-Identical Twins

With a Barbie doll gripped firmly in her hand, 7-year-old Bobbie Celaya rarely missed one of her sister’s basketball games.

Decked out in her best dress, she would faithfully support her twin, Anna, who played in an otherwise all-boys’ league.

When the games ended, the girls would leave, one dressed like Cindy Brady, the other like her brother Peter.

“No one ever believes we’re twins,” said Bobbie, now 17 and a senior guard alongside her sister on the North Hollywood High girls’ team. “I still wear dresses to school, with earrings and makeup. Anna just wears sweats and sneakers.”

Together, they have formed a backcourt tandem that has led the Huskies to a 17-2 record.

Anna leads area City Section scorers, while Bobbie, in only her third season of organized basketball, is averaging nine points.

Appearances and scoring averages aside, the Celayas have much more in common than a birthday.

Both have 4.2 grade-point averages--neither has received anything less than an A since junior high--as well as a unique love for a musical group which disbanded long before they were born a minute apart in 1977.

“The Beatles are our life,” Bobbie said. “We don’t like anyone else but the Beatles. They are our obsession.

“Everyone thinks we’re weird because we’re into the ‘60s. We’re not into that rap stuff.”

Anna’s favorite Beatle song? “Anna.”

“I just love to hear John (Lennon) sing my name,” she said.

With a little help from their friends, the Celayas also have a shot at advancing to the City 4-A championship game. The Huskies have won a school-record 14 consecutive games including all seven in Valley Pac-8 Conference play.

North Hollywood’s streak began during the winter break in a Simi Valley tournament game against Chaminade, the game in which Anna broke Jacinda Sweet’s school career scoring record.

Anna has scored in double figures in 67 of North Hollywood’s 69 games since joining the team as a sophomore. Bobbie is in her second season on the varsity.

This season, Anna is spinning opponents to the tune of 25.9 points a game, leaving opposing coaches to sing her praises.

Help!

“We go into the North Hollywood game hoping to control the rest of the team and to stop Anna from getting into triple figures,” Monroe Coach Bryant Ching said.

Here, There and Everywhere!

“She never dies,” San Fernando Coach Christine Fortis said. “She’s so scrappy and has such great focus. It’s something you can’t teach. She just has it.”

Most City coaches would say it includes a knack to drive the most impenetrable lanes, exhibit impressive three-point shooting range, leadership abilities and a ferocious drive to succeed.

What it does not include at the moment is a scholarship offer. The lack of a ticket to ride can be at least partially attributed to Anna’s stature. At 5 feet 4, some have questioned her potential to play at the college level.

“It’s kind of a helpless feeling,” Anna said. “I can’t do anything about my height, but maybe I can work on something else and make them forget my size.”

One college already has. In October, she visited West Point.

“I liked it,” Anna said. “It was my first time on an airplane. It was also my first time away from my sister. That part wasn’t so great. For that reason, I think I’d like to stay closer to home.”

However, Anna, who has little problem creating options for herself on the court, has found the possibilities tougher to come by in the search for a college home.

“I’m getting some letters, but never the phone call that tells you that they really want you to come,” she said.

But she received a call recently that could solve her problems.

Anna says she has been contacted by Cal State Northridge. Perfect. A Division I school. So close to her home in North Hollywood. A team in dire need of a point guard.

The only hitch is that the Northridge program could be eliminated, pending the outcome of a referendum on the student ballot in early March.

It doesn’t take a poll to determine which Celaya is which. They are as different as a whisper and a scream. Anna, the more vocal of the Celayas on the court, is more introverted off it.

“Bobbie is the one who is most likely to greet you and talk your ear off,” said North Hollywood Coach Rich Allen, himself a twin. “Anna has opened up quite a bit over the years, but I still have to do 90% of the talking.”

Allen, who has coached the Huskies to three City championship games in 11 seasons, has little problem talking. He stands in front of the Husky bench throughout the game, shouting instructions and positioning players.

Only a small percentage of it is directed toward the Celayas.

“They work so well together,” Allen said. “You can see the eye contact between them, their unspoken communication. They just click so well. Having the two of them is almost too good to be true.”

But one person’s dream is another’s nightmare. Kennedy Coach Donis Bailey remembers a game in which her team had significant problems defending the twins.

“Bobbie was just sitting out there at the three-point line,” she said. “Anna kept driving on us and scoring. The girl who was covering Bobbie started sagging in to help on Anna. Then Bobbie started killing us on three-pointers.

“When I asked my girl why she left Bobbie, she said she was getting bored covering her because she wasn’t even moving.”

Until her sophomore year, Bobbie was more interested in balance beams than basketball, with the bulk of her athletic background coming in gymnastics.

“I liked being pretty in my little leotard and tights,” she said. “I don’t know what has happened to me.”

Perhaps her priorities have changed. Now, a City championship trophy, not a doll, would feel better in the Celayas’ grasp.