SLIPPERY ROCK — Two times a year, Julie Molloy and Jence Rhoads are sworn enemies.

The rest of the time, they are best of friends.

During the high school girls basketball season, they wear the colors of their school's most bitter rivals — Molloy the black and gold of Grove City High School and Rhoads the red and white of Slippery Rock.

They are embroiled in a rivalry that has always been fierce, but has taken on added meaning recently as both teams have found themselves near the top of the region standings.

"I don't try to think about her when we are playing against each other," Molloy said. "But even though we are wearing a different uniform, we still pull for each other."

When the two squared off Thursday night, they put on a basketball clinic.

Molloy scored 23 of her team's 37 points. Rhoads scored 19 of the 41 points put up by the Rockets and also had a slew of steals.

After Rhoads hit a shot in the first half, Molloy resisted the urge to congratulate her.

"I almost slapped her hand," Molloy said, laughing.

Rhoads grimaced every time Molloy hit a shot, though, and there were a lot of them.

Molloy hit five 3-pointers in the game and nearly led Grove City to a win all by herself.

"She was kind of making me mad," Rhoads said. "Every time she hit a shot, I was saying, 'Julie! Stop it!'"

The two have been teammates on one team or another during the summer since the fifth grade. Back then, Rhoads' 3-on-3 team needed another member, and she thought of Molloy.

"They called me one day and I didn't really know them," Molloy said. "They asked me if I wanted to play 3-on-3 and I said, 'Sure. OK.'"

The last two years, they have played together on the Rock Solid AAU team, which has gone to nationals and placed high there.

Molloy, a senior, is heading to St. Bonaventure University next season and she is already lobbying for Rhoads, a junior, to join her when the time comes.

Rhoads, though, has a mailbox full of Division I inquiries already.

"I don't know what I'm going to do without her," said Rhoads, thinking about this coming summer when Molloy will be ineligible to play for Rock Solid. "It's going to be sad."

The two follow each other's careers closely during the high school season.

Rhoads is leading the area in scoring at 25.1 points per game. Molloy is second at 22.3 points per contest and she has also hit 22 3-points, best in the area by five.

"I look in the paper all the time to see how she is doing," Rhoads said.

"We both scored 30 the last couple of games," Molloy added. "There's really no competition. We just like to see each other do well."

And fans just like to see them, period. Coaches included.

"It was a fantastic show," said Grove City coach Roger Flynn of Thursday's game. "Julie and Jence are great players and they put on a great show."