COLUMBIA, MO – Incarnate Word coach Dan Rolfes sat at the Mizzou Arena podium during the postgame press conference and reflected.
One year ago, after coaching the Red Knights to a state semifinal victory in Mizzou Arena, Rolfes suffered a massive heart attack in the parking lot. He was still fighting for his life across the street at University Hospital as Incarnate Word played for a state title the following day.
“I’m just so happy to be here with these (girls),” Rolfes said on Thursday. “It was not easy for them to go through what we had to last year. I always felt bad for them to have to go through that.”
Shortly after his release from the hospital, Rolfes made the surprising announcement that he planned to resume his coaching duties this season.
“I needed to coach. I needed something to drive me and these (players) did that for me,” he said. “They don’t know how much they affected me and how important they are to me … I needed them way more than they needed me.”
Led by Rolfes, the Incarnate Word basketball team defeated Staley 55-41 Thursday at Mizzou Arena to win their eighth consecutive state title and 13th in the last 14 years the championship has been held.
“It was a goal of mine to be able to get back here and win,” Rolfes said. “Just to be here, in this building, and for these seniors to end on this positive note, it’s very, very satisfying, for sure.”
Incarnate Word (28-2) used a familiar formula to pull away from Staley in the second half – smothering defense, flawless offense and the sharing of glory.
Leading 24-19 at halftime, the Red Knights executed their offense to perfection on their first four possessions. Senior Nevaeh Caffey, who had been held scoreless in the first half, scored on an isolation drive from the right side. Junior Savannah Stricker followed with an isolation basket from the left.
A double screen freed up senior Nevaeh Cortez Lucious for a layup, and when senior Peyton Hill got free cutting to the hoop, Incarnate Word had scored four baskets from four different scorers on its first four possessions.
“They just executed really well in the third quarter, especially the first four possessions. It was, ‘Bang,’ backscreen, layup,” Staley coach Mike Bennett said.
Incarnate Word also seemed un-guardable on sideline out-of-bounds plays and underneath the hoop out-of-bounds plays. When Stricker found Cortez Lucious after another series of screens, the Red Knights completed a 15-4 run to open the second half.
“We ran a play we had in all year and I don’t know if we scored off it one time, and tonight, we got eight points off it,” Rolfes said.
For Staley, the level of concentration and communication it took to defend Incarnate Word proved to be unsustainable.
“They make you wrong. If you choose something, they’re going to choose the other,” Bennett said. “Their actions are really hard to defend, they do so many different things.”
Junior Addi Owen punctuated a dominant third quarter with a rainbow three that gave Incarnate Word a 44-28 lead heading into the fourth. It exemplified the sharing of scoring that further increases the challenge of guarding the Red Knights.
“We just pride ourselves on being team players. We know we play our best basketball when we’re driving, kicking the ball out and looking for the best shot. A lot of times, that’s after five passes when everyone has touched the ball,” senior Sophia Otten said. “Our best games are when everyone has 10 points, not when one person goes off for 30.”
Hill led the way with 16 points, Cortez Lucious added 14 and Caffey chipped in 10.
On the defensive side, Incarnate Word held Staley, which scored 70-plus points in 11 games, to 35 percent shooting and its lowest point total of the season (41).
“We always prided our program on defense and we guarded the heck out of them today,” Rolfes said.
Staley (30-2) set a record for most wins in a season and played in its first state title game in program history. The Falcons graduate only one senior and established themselves as one of the top Class 6 programs.
“Our kids worked hard. They put in the time and the effort and set a new standard for our team,” Bennett said. “You have to be (at the final four) to experience it, and to experience Incarnate Word. Now that we have that experience, it will help shape our practices and our outlook.”
Incarnate Word had a national record 141-game winning streak snapped on Jan. 20 against a team from Etiwanda, California. It allowed the Red Knights to reset their priorities for the remainder of the season.
“I think it was a relief for us,” Caffey said of the loss. “We were always worried about, ‘We have to win this game, we have to win the next game,’ instead of just playing IWA basketball.”
And IWA basketball, which has been the model of consistent excellence, proved it can navigate the most turbulent storms and emerge in a familiar place – the state championship podium.
“We all learned that you can’t take things for granted,” Rolfes said.
He added, “This is a super-special group to me. I loved every day being in the gym with them.”
Photo gallery from this game: https://benvessa.smugmug.com/2023-24-Girls-Basketball/Girls-Basketball-2024-25/Incarnate-Word-vs-Staley-Class-6-championship
Photo gallery from last year’s state title game: https://benvessa.smugmug.com/2023-24-Girls-Basketball/Girls-Basketball-2023-24/Incarnate-Word-vs-Kickapoo-3-16-2024