Incarnate Word Continues to Roll

Columbia, MO – The top girls’ high school basketball team in the State of Missouri put on another impressive performance! Incarnate Word Academy overwhelmed and over-matched Dexter High School in the Class 4 semi-finals 66-25.

IWA is used to being in the ‘final four’, but this team is devastating the opposition and is steam rolling everything in their way. Head Coach Dan Rolfes is almost 300 games over .500 in his time at the helm of the Red Knight program, but this year is special.

The Knights haven’t had a team stay within 20 points of them since St. Joseph’s Academy dropped a 12 point decision to them back in early February. Since that game, the Knights AVERAGE margin of victory is 42 points!

Fueling the engine is their all-world Sophomore Napheesa Collier. The Jefferson City transfer averages 25 points, 12 rebounds and four steals per game. In the semi-final win over the Lady Bearcats, Collier scored 28 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and handed out three assists. She barely played the fourth quarter.

At 6’1″ with a sprinter’s speed and what Coach Rolfes calls ‘guard skills’ Collier is virtually unstoppable. In the win over Dexter, she was 12 of 15 from the field and never forced a shot.  She was a state qualifier in track last year as a freshman and according to Rolfes she has a great work-ethic and outstanding attitude. Some of the nation’s elite collegiate basketball programs have visited the Gateway City to court Napheesa Collier.

IWA is 30-0 and some ranking systems have them as high as 9th in the nation. While I’ve only seen them three times this year, it is hard to imagine many teams being better than the Knights.