SLIPPERY ROCK — During the high school basketball season, Kelsey Spencer has a distaste for Butler and New Castle.

Spencer, who will be a senior at Seneca Valley HighSchool, is like most Raiders when it comes to those two schools: they are bitter rivals and there is not much room in her heart for the Golden Tornado or the Red Hurricanes.

But as far as the players on those two teams go, that's a different story.

As Spencer, a member of the Rock Solid AAU girls basketball team based in SlipperyRock, has found, the players in those rival uniforms aren't so evil after all.

"I'll still hate those schools," Spencer said. "But not the players."

That's because in her first summer withRock Solid, she has played along side Butler's Amy Achesinski and New Castle's Jaleesa Sams and Logan Hartman.

She has become fast friends with them.

"We hang out together, go to movies together," Spencer said. "They accepted me right away."

And they win — a lot.

Last weekend, Rock Solid went to the prestigious Adidas Tournament of Champions in Atlanta, won five games against some of the elite AAU girls basketball teams in the country, before losing in the championship game to FBC-California — arguably the best AAU team in the country — to place second.

A week earlier, Rock Solid won the Penn State Tournament and this weekend will travel to Memphis, Tenn., to play in another national tournament.

It's a stark change for Spencer, who spent last summer on a different AAU team based in Pittsburgh.

"We actually win now," Spencer said. "It's been an awesome, awesome experience."

Spencer, a 5-floor-11 guard-forward, has seen her game improve exponentially this summer. Playing alongside some of the area's best high school players will do that to you.

Forwards on the team include Achesinski, Joyce Novacek of Hopewell, Taja Wilson of Penn Hills and Hartman.

Perimeter players are Sams, Sheena Aden of Lakeview, Jordan Zuppe of Hopewell, Samantha Loadman of Bethel Park, Jence Rhoads of Slippery Rock and Spencer.

"I was thrilled to get on this team," Spencer said. "We have a lot of fun playing and we play really well together."

Most of the team has been together for years.

Coach Posey Rhoads had to add a few new faces after previous players became to old to be eligible.

One thing that hasn't changed is Rock Solid's style of play. It makes the old Loyola of Marymount's offense seem like Princeton's.

Rock Solid runs and runs and runs. And when that doesn't work, it runs again. It is a necessity to overcome its relative lack of size in the national tournaments that feature teams with 6-4 and 6-5 behemoths underneath.

That has made Rock Solid a fan favorite at every tournament in which it has played.

After losing toCalifornia, the coach asked Rhoads how many girls he had to chose from to form his team.

"I said 'I have 10,'" Rhoads said. "'They're all sitting right here.' He was amazed. He said he had 1,000 to chose from."

Rock Solid has gone 35-4 in the tournaments it has played in since April, often playing three games a day.

And it is playing against some hefty competition.

"(In Atlanta) I actually almost saw my first dunk," Rhoads said. "This 6-5 girl went up with two hands. She would have done it, but her legs were tired. I started to stand up thinking she was going to do it."

Spencer is one of the taller players when she faces off against teams like North Hills and North Allegheny. But playing for Rock Solid isn't like playing for Seneca Valley.

Spencer quickly found that out.

"These girls are huge," Spencer said. "Some of them are twice our size."

Spencer believes her experience withRock Solid this summer will make her a much better player for Seneca Valley this winter.

"Everything I have learned I can easily incorporate when I go back in the fall," Spencer said. "My game has improved tremendously, especially my confidence. My confidence is the biggest thing that has improved."