Jewelry web blog

In the winter, they’re bitter rivals.

In the summer, they’re best friends.

And, as of June 29, Nicola Matero and Morgan Manz are national champions.

Matero, a Danbury resident who plays basketball at Lauralton Hall, and Manz, a rising junior who played for Pomperaug last season, led the Exodus II girls AAU basketball team to a first-place finish at last week’s 15U Junior Nationals in Hershey, Pa.

Exodus II beat out 36 other teams from 10 different states to claim the title.

This championship game, a 63-53 victory over No Limit of Virginia, played out a little different than the last one Matero participated in — the 2010 South-West Conference title game, which pitted her Lauralton Hall Crusaders against Pomperaug.

In that game, Manz broke a 60-60 tie with 50 seconds remaining when she drilled a three-pointer from the top of the key to put the Panthers ahead for good.

She scored a season-high 16 points and connected on four three’s in the win.

"Oh, I remember that," Matero said. "It’s always better to have Morgan on your team, that’s for sure."

This time around, Manz averaged 7.8 points per game and hit 15 three-pointers in the eight-game tournament for Exodus.

She scored 10 points in the championship game.

"Morgan and I really fit the way our team plays," said Matero, who averaged 7.5 points per game over the weekend. "We have guards who can shoot the three and then we have five girls on the inside who are 6-feet tall."

One of those girls — and perhaps the team’s most dominant post presence — is Danbury High’s Casey Smith, a rising junior who earned All-State honors last season and was one of two players to be unanimously named first-team All-FCIAC.

Smith, a 6-foot-2 center, scored 12 points in the title game and averaged 8.6 points throughout the tournament.

The only Exodus player to average double figures was point guard Krista O’Gara (11.1 points), a soon-to-be junior at Canterbury School in New Milford.

Exodus II, a team that rotates its practices from St. John’s University to Fordham University to The Wooster School in Danbury,tiffany pendants, won all eight games by an average score of 63-34.

"Before the season started, we had a list of goals we wanted to achieve,tiffany necklaces," Matero said. "We wanted to win this tournament at Hershey, so we’ve accomplished that, but we also have a few more that are important.

Most notably,discount tiffany, the USA Invitational at Penn State (July 5-7) and the Junior National Championships in Washington, D.C. (July 24-27).

Unlike the Hershey National Showcase, both upcoming tournaments are during the "viewing" period for colleges.

Matero expects the gym to be flooded with collegiate coaches — she saw legendary Tennessee coach Pat Summit last year — at both events.

"It’s definitely a different atmosphere than playing in high school," Matero said. "But it’s exciting. Walking on the court,tiffany key rings, you see the top Division I schools first, you get a little nervous. But once you start playing, you kind of block it out. It’s like any other game."