Incarnate Word wins 15th Missouri Class 6 girls state basketball championship; live scoring, recap

Huge third quarter helps defending champs retain title they've held since 2017

WNBA star Sophie Cunningham (left), a Columbia, Mo. native who currently plays for the Phoenix Mercury, poses with the Incarnate Word girls basketball team after they beat Blue Valley North 68-51 Saturday, Jan. 11, in the Sophie Cunningham Classic in Columbia for their 139th consecutive win - breaking the national all-time consecutive wins record. Incarnate Word went on to win the program's 15th state championship on Thursday, March 20 in Columbia at Mizzou Arena. / Laura Hayes

The historic run Staley’s girls have been on this season has already ensured a finish greater than any girls team in its program history has ever reached.

To be the best, of course, you must beat the best, and Staley will surely have its hands full today. They’ll face No. 1 Incarnate Word – a program who has owned this trophy since 2017 – today at 6 p.m. inside Mizzou Arena for the MSHSAA Class 6 state championship.

Bookmark this page and check back in often as High School on SI will be posting live scoring, game updates and stats from the Class 6 championship on this page in the space below once the game starts.

After going 27-3 last season, the Lady Falcons, led by junior Londyn Parker, are 30-1 and making their first finals appearance. Their last trip to the state tournament came in 2020-2021. That season they claimed the program’s only state award, taking fourth.

They got here with a pair of hard-fought victories, beating Rock Bridge 56-49 in the quarterfinals before knocking off Kickapoo 42-37 on Wednesday in a semifinal showdown at Mizzou Arena.

Fantastic defense this season has been their calling card this season, as they allowing just 37.3 points per game while scoring 64.5 on the other end. Something must give way today, however. The Lady Red Knights are pretty good in their own right. They average 73.4 points offensively this season and surrender only 38 on average.

 Save for the Covid season in 2020, the Lady Red Knights have won the last seven Class 6 state championships dating back to 2017. They took fourth in 2016 but won state titles in each of the three seasons prior to that.

In total, the Lady Red Knights program has 14 state championships, one runner-up finish, five third place finishes and took fourth twice. They have won 12 of those state titles since 2010 alone.

After seeing their record winning streak finally come to an end earlier this season, Incarnate Word will enter today’s game with a 28-2 mark. Their only losses came against national powers Etiwanda (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) 74-65 on Jan. 20 and 82-76 to Sacred Heart (Louisville, Ky.) five days later.

Since then, they’ve been on a new streak having won 16 consecutive games entering today’s Show-Me Showdown.

Incarnate Word Academy vs. Staley: Missouri Class 6 girls state championship; live scoring, updates

Starting linups:

Staley: Destiny Manyawu, Londyn Parker, Brielle Mays, Ava Miles, Miah Crockett

Incarnate Word: Nevaeh Caffey, Peyton Olufson, Nevaeh Lucious, Peyton Hill, Savannah Stricker

FIRST QUARTER

Hill scores on a layup and Lucious adds another quick basket and Incarnate Word has the first points of the game.

Manyawu and Mays get it right back for Staley. It's 4-4 early in the first.

Lucious quickly gets two more baskets and it's 8-6. She has six of her team's eight points.

Olufson buries a 3-pointer with 3:08 left in the first to make it 11-7, Incarnate Word.

Londyn Parker lays it in from the left side to trim Staley's deficit to 11-9 with 1:53 left in the first. Parker answers with an offensive putback to tie it at 11 with 1:02 left.

End 1: Incarnate Word 11, Staley 11

SECOND QUARTER

Peyton Hill scores twice to kick off the second quarter and Incarnate Word takes a 15-11 lead.

Parker makes two free throws for Staley, but Incarnate Word gets it right back on a basket by Fitzgerald. It's 17-13.

Manyawu scores for Staley, but Hill completes a three-point play and Incarnate Word leads 20-15 with 4:16 to go in the half.

Manyawu gets two free throws to drop to cut it to 20-17, but Incarnate Word answers again. This time it's another bucket from Lucious to make it 22-17.

Hill scores again with 1:13 left in the half to increase Incarnate Word's lead to 24-17.

Miles drives to the basket and scores with five seconds left and Staley trims the deficit to 24-19.

Halftime: Incarnate Word Academy 24, Staley 19

Halftime stats: Peyton Hill leads Incarnate Word with 11 points, while Nevaeh Lucious has eight, Peyton Olufson three and Bri Fitzgerald two. Lucious also has six rebounds. … Londyn Parker leads Staley with eight points, while Destin Manyawu has six, Brielle Mays and Ava Miles two each and Remi Grant one. Manyawu has six boards and Miles has five.

THIRD QUARTER

Incarnate Word gets off to a strong start in the third quarter, as Caffey, Strickers, Lucious and Hill have all scored to open up an 8-1 run. It's 32-20 with 5:49 left.

Staley gets a free throw from Mays and a basket from Manyawu, but Caffey and Lucious both respond again to make it 36-23 with 3:40 left in the third.

Caffey scores again. completing a three-point play. Incarnate Word is on a 7-0 run and red hot coming out of the second half.

Incarnate Word calls timeout with with 1:03 left in the third riding a scoring drought that's lasted 2 minutes, 30 seconds. They're still leading 39-26.

Owen scores off the timeout and Incarnate Word breaks the drought. It's 42-26.

Staley gets a pair of free throws by Crockett with 27 seconds left in the third and that closes out the quarter.

End 3: Incarnate Word 42, Staley 28

FOURTH QUARTER

Caffey opens the fourth with a pair of free throws for Incarnate Word, Mays gets one of them back for Staley, but Lucious scores again and Incarnate Word leads 46-29 with 6:02 remaining.

Incarnate Word calls timeout with 5:59 to go, leading 46-29. Hill has 15 points and Lucious follows with 14 so far.

A 3-pointer by Miles cuts into the deficit. It's 48-32 with 4:35 to go.

After Incarnate Word get two free throws from Stricker, Miles makes one (to give her 10 points) and Mays makes a 3-pointer for Staley to cut it to 50-36 with 3:10 remaining in regulation.

Incarnate Word hasn't made a field goal in more than three minutes, but it hasn't mattered much. The lead is still comfortable at 50-37 with 2:12 remaining.

Final: Incarnate Word 55, Staley 41

Recap

Incarnate Word didn’t score a field goal in the final 5 minutes, 17 seconds, but it didn’t matter as a huge second half surge helped them build a comfortable lead down the stretch.

Led by Peyton Hill, the Lady Red Knights outscored the Lady Falcons 18-9 in the third quarter. Coupled with their crippling defense, that was plenty as Incarnate Word earned its 15th state championship in program history.

Hill paved the way with a game-high 16 points, while Nevaeh Lucious added 14, Nevaeh Caffey 10, Savannah Stricker six, Peyton Olufson four, Addi Owen three and Bri Fitzgerald two. Lucious also added nine rebounds.

Londyn Parker finished with 11 points for Staley, while Ava Miles netted 10, Destiny Manyawu eight, Brielle Mays seven, Remi Grant three and Miah Crockett two. Miles and Manyawu each had even boards.

---

More Missouri high school sports links:

•

Missouri Basketball Coaches Association (MBCA) boys Class 1-6 all-state teams

•

Missouri Basketball Coaches Association (MBCA) boys Class 4-6 all-district teams

•

Missouri Basketball Coaches Association (MBCA) boys Class 1-3 all-district teams

•

High School On SI's Missouri postseason girls basketball awards

•

Oregon Ducks projected to land 3 of nation's top 10 football prospects by national expert

---

Be sure to Bookmark High School on SI for all of the latest high school football news.

High School On SI will serve as the premier destination for high school sports fans, delivering unparalleled coverage of high school athletics nationwide through in-depth stories, recruiting coverage, rankings, highlights and much more. The launch of a dedicated high school experience expands Sports Illustrated’s reach to even more local communities as fans can now truly follow athletes from “preps to the pros” on a single platform, bringing them closer to the action than ever before. For more information, visit si.com/high-school.

Download the SBLive App

To get live updates on your phone — as well as follow your favorite teams and top games — you can download the SBLive Sports app:

Download iPhone App | Download Android App