High school girls basketball: Incarnate Word Academy of Missouri wins 138th game in a row, ties all-time record

Nationally-ranked high school girls basketball program Incarnate Word Academy (St. Louis, Mo.) tied the all-time record for consecutive wins Saturday, winning its 138th straight game 65-47 over Lift for Life Academy (St. Louis, Mo.) in the final of the Visitation Christmas Tournament.

Ranked No. 15 in this week's MaxPreps Top 25, Incarnate Word Academy (7-0), matched the run of success by Central Plains (Claflin, Kan.) from 2015 to 2020. The last loss for the Red Knights came in February of 2020 against Rock Bridge (Columbia, Mo.).

Against Lift for Life Academy on Saturday, senior guard Peyton Hill was the high scorer with 24 points. Incarnate Word Academy can break the national record with a victory Jan. 7 against St. Dominic (O'Fallon, Mo.).

The path to the all-time wins mark has been rocky over the past nine months after head coach Dan Rolfes suffered a near-fatal heart attack following his team's Class 6 semifinal win over Rock Bridge in March. With Rolfes in the ICU, the Red Knights decided to forge ahead and won a tear-filled championship game against Kickapoo (Springfield).

It was the 13th title for Rolfes and the seventh straight championship for the program.

Rolfes spent more than a month in the hospital and had no idea that his team had won the title, but vowed to return to the sideline.

"When I got home from the hospital, I thought ‘How am I going to coach when I can barely walk?'" Rolfes told MaxPreps. "There's a lot of self-doubt wondering if you're going to recover and if you're going to be the same.

"First and foremost, I want to be there for my family and kids. Then basketball is a huge part of my life and passion. It's not a job, it's what I want to do. For a lot of people a quota or checked box. It's a mandatory thing for me to be a coach."