For Marshall, It’s Twice as Nice

Whether trading high-fives or offering spirited words of encouragement, the Foster twins, Amanda and Lauren, are inseparable teammates playing basketball for Los Angeles Marshall High.

When it comes to sharing a bedroom at home, though, they need a referee to call fouls and timeouts.

“She’s very messy,” Lauren complained. “All her stuff is everywhere.”

Said Amanda: “She cleans house and I love it because it means I don’t have to do it.”

Enter their parents, Harry and Kristen.

“I’m the judge and [my wife] the jury,” Harry said. “A referee uniform doesn’t help. They know how to play the game.”

Ditto for Marshall’s other set of twins, Erika and Amanda Guijarros. They also get along better on the court.

Three of the twins are starters, causing Coach Wendy Triplett to joke, “My sister says the headline should be, ‘Triplett has twins.’ ”

Confusion sometimes reigns when the 5-foot-10 Foster twins are on the court with 5-7 Erika.

“The referees will tell us to stop holding when it’s the other [twin],” Erika said.

Added Triplett: “I will frequently blame one person for not doing something correctly, and they’ll go, ‘No, that was Amanda.’ ”

The Fosters are 16-year-old sophomores. The Guijarroses are 17-year-old juniors. They have helped Marshall (9-7) become one of perhaps 10 teams that could challenge for second place in the City Section behind heavily favored Harbor City Narbonne.

Amanda Foster is the best player among the twins. She scored 38 points and had 21 rebounds against Los Alamitos. In a Fairfax tournament game, she scored 25 points and had 24 rebounds against Montebello Cantwell-Sacred Heart.

“I eat, sleep, drink, dream about basketball,” she said. “I dreamed I was 6-2 and dunked.”

Triplett believes Amanda will be playing Division I college basketball if she continues to make steady improvement. She is a two-year varsity player.

“She’s pretty phenomenal,” Triplett said. “She was very young and immature, but she’s growing up.”

Lauren, a former junior varsity player, is starting to catch up to her sister because she works harder, even though she plays the game more for fun. Lauren’s improvement will undoubtedly motivate Amanda because her competitive instincts will kick in.

“I know basketball is my life and I can’t mess it up,” Amanda said.

The sets of identical twins have plenty of stories about people misidentifying them. Of course, there are times deception comes in handy.

“I used to have this boyfriend I didn’t like and told my sister to go hang out with him,” Amanda said.

Each set of twins attends the same classes, so if one is sick, the other takes notes. Lauren and Erika complain that the two Amandas fall asleep in class.

On the court, everyone seems to get along. Amanda Foster is a vocal leader and has good instincts for the game.

As much as the twins might argue off the court, they know there’s something unique about their situation.

“You always have someone to hang out with,” Erika said. “You’re never alone.”

*

Los Angeles Dorsey had three former football players involved in the NFL playoffs: linebacker Na’il Diggs of the Green Bay Packers, receiver Dennis Northcutt of the Cleveland Browns and receiver Keyshawn Johnson of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Among the Southland players on rosters of Super Bowl contenders are Oakland Raider defensive ends Kenyon Coleman from Alta Loma and DeLawrence Grant from Compton Centennial.

On Tampa Bay’s side, in addition to Keyshawn Johnson, will be quarterback Rob Johnson from Lake Forest El Toro.

*

In 1999, Eddie Whitaker was an unrecruited senior quarterback at Reseda Cleveland, who went on to play at Los Angeles Valley College. Last week, he received a scholarship to Oregon as a 6-foot-4, 245-pound tight end.

Sometimes switching positions is the best strategy to make it to the next level.

*

Westlake Village Westlake and Evangel Christian from Shreveport, La., are in negotiations to open the 2003 football season on Sept. 6 in Ventura County. Evangel Christian returns the No. 1-rated quarterback in the nation, John David Booty.

*

Lineman Drew Radovich of Mission Viejo and receivers Steve Smith of Woodland Hills Taft and Whitney Lewis of Ventura St. Bonaventure have been selected to the Parade magazine All-American team. The complete team will appear in Sunday’s Parade magazine in The Times.

*

Eric Sondheimer can be reached at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com.