The quest for their 131st straight victory and seventh straight Missouri title turned into a mission to "Win for Dan" on Saturday as No. 13
Incarnate Word Academy (St. Louis, Mo.) captured the Class 6 girls basketball title in honor of their hospitalized head coach Dan Rolfes.
The 52-year-old coach remained in critical condition Saturday, one day after leaving the arena following the Red Knights' 61-40 semifinal victory over Rock Bridge (Columbia) with what the school said was a "medical emergency."
On Saturday, Incarnate Word Academy ran its nation-best win streak to 131 games with their seventh straight state title, beating Kickapoo 53-43.
Peyton Hill led the way for the Red Knights with 17 points while
Kaylynn Janes added 16 and
Nevaeh Caffey grabbed 10 rebounds.
The victory ensures IWA starts next season needing just eight wins to break the national record of 138 straight wins set by
Central Plains (Claflin, Kan.) from 2015 to 2020 behind Iowa State senior Emily Ryan.
The other all-time win streak mark is 218 by Baskin (La.) from 1947-53.
However, that was when girls basketball was played 6-on-6.
Despite Rolfes being hospitalized, the school said on X (formerly Twitter) Friday night that the championship game was still on schedule, confirming Saturday morning the title contest would be played as that's what the coach would want.
The Red Knights opened a 12-5 lead after the first quarter and 32-17 edge at intermission as Hill had 10 points and Janes added 7. The Chiefs would trim the lead to 10 a few times in the second half, but IWA kept them at arm's length as the time ticked off the clock.
Incarnate Word Academy players, including Nevah Caffey (3) celebrate a win earlier this season over No. 24 Burroughs. The Red Knights won their seventh straight state title on Saturday, bumping their win streak to 131 games. They will start the season needing eight victories to break the all-time record. (Photo: Jimmy Simmons)
Incarnate Word, up 52-41 with less than a minute remaining, emptied its bench to tears and hugs from Rolfes' coaching staff.
Assistant coach Tanner Wilkenson assumed the head coaching duties during Rolfes' absence from the sidelines.
Janes,
Zoe Best and
Abbie Sextro are the school's three seniors and finish their high school careers never having lost a game.
The program has now won 131 straight games dating back to the 2019-20 season. Incarnate Word's last loss was 46-44 to Rock Bridge (Columbia) on Feb. 8, 2020 — 1,529 days ago.
IWA has been dominant during their win streak with 18 games decided by 10 points or fewer. The Red Knights have only played three two-point games and four three-point games. They beat No. 23
Burroughs (St. Louis, Mo.), which won the Class 5 title on Thursday, three times this season by a total of 13 points and beat once-ranked Sacred Heart 52-50.
The Red Knights have already hit several milestones this season, including breaking the Missouri consecutive wins mark at 124 on Feb. 12. Rolfes also notched his 700th victory in the quarterfinals of this year's tournament. He coached at Rosary for two seasons before the last 24 at IWA.
Under Rolfes, the program has won 13 of its 14 state titles with the first coming in 1995 under former coach Jim Johnson.
