Missouri high school girls basketball team breaks national wins record in historic fashion
Since Feb. 8, 2020, 139 teams have stepped onto the basketball court trying to beat the Incarnate Word girls.
Every single one of them have failed.
As unbelievable as it may sound, it’s true. Since Feb. 11, 2020, Red Knights and head coach Dan Rolfes have won a national record 139 consecutive girls high school basketball games.
After tying the mark on Dec. 28, in a 66-47 victory over Lift for Life Academy at the 50th Visitation Christmas Tournament on Dec. 28, the Red Knights stand alone in history after beating Blue Valley North, 68-51, in the Sophie Cunningham Classic on Bob Bourchard Court at Columbia College in Columbia, Mo. on Saturday, Jan. 11.
Cunningham, a Columbia, Mo., native and current star of the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury, was on hand to witness the historic mark and celebrated with the team after the win.
To get the record, they had to survive two of Kansas' best players in Blue Valley North's Jaliya Davis and Aubrey Shaw. They did that despite Shaw - an ESPN 4-star recruit and No. 43 senior in the nation who is headed to Harvard - scoring 25 points and Davis - an ESPN 5-star recruit and the No. 17 senior recruit in the nation by ESPN HoopGurlz who is going to Kansas - scoring 18 points.
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A big third quarter made the difference as Incarnate Word outscored Blue Valley North 21-13 to extend its 31-22 halftime lead to 52-35 entering the fourth.
Junior point guard Addi Owen had a strong game for the Red Knights, leading all scorers with 20 points while adding four steals and four assists. Senior guards Nevaeh Caffey and Peyton Hill both had 10 points for Incarnate Word. Caffey added four assists and two steals, while Hill had three steals and two assists.
There’s no way the Columbia Rock Bridge girls could’ve understood how historic their 46-44 victory was back in 2020. But that was the last time one of Rolfes’ Red Knights teams went home without a smile.
The program didn’t just fall into this success, of course. They were good long before this winning streak. Since 1993, the program has had 22 final four finishes, winning 14 state championships.
Most of that success has been with Rolfes at the helm. Since 2006, Rolfes has guided 13 state championships – including the last four Class 6 titles in a row. After taking third in Class 5 in 2004 and 2005, they won their first title under him in 2006 before taking second in 2008. They also took third in Class 5 in 2012 and fourth in Class 4 in 2016.
Save for 2016’s fourth-place finish and 2020's COVID season, the Red Knights have won a Class 4 or Class 6 state championship in 10 of the last 12 seasons.