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IWA Basketball Seeks Another Visitation Tournament Title
By Jim Wieners
Incarnate Word Academy will be aiming to keep the dominance of the Visitation Academy Christmas Basketball Tournament and the Red Knights are aiming for a “seven-peat” and it begins this Saturday, Dec. 20 as the number one seed.
IWA will be playing in the final game of the first day of the Visitation Christmas Tournament Saturday at 8:30 when the Red Knight play Parkway South. The first game of the eight-game opening round begins at 10 a.m. as Nerinx Hall battles third-seeded Kirkwood. After Saturday the tournament resumes the day after Christmas, Dec. 26, and continues through Dec. 28, ending with the championship game at 8 p.m.
IWA has won a Visitation Tournament record six straight championships, nine in the last 10 and 10 overall since 1992. A Tournament title this year will give the Red Knights another record of 11 titles in the Tournaments 40-year history breaking the 10-title mark IWA currently shares with the host Vivettes, who last won in 2001.
From 2002 to now IWA and St. Joseph’s Academy, with three titles in six years before the IWA six-peat (and six titles overall), have been the only teams to have won at Visitation. And the Angels have played the Red Knights in four of previous five championship games before St. Joe lost in last year’s semifinal to Hazelwood Central, 61-43, and had to settle for third place.
IWA opened the season Dec. 11-13 by winning just one game while losing two in Champions at Fort Smith Southside, Ark. The Red Knights lost to Fayetteville, Ark., 56-55, defeated Ozark, Ark., 60-28, and lost to North Little Rock, Ark., 57-37. IWA has not lost to a Missouri High School since March 8, 2012 losing to eventual Class Five State Champion Rock Bridge (46-43) in the Semifinals.
Napheesa Collier, who will be attending the University of Connecticut next year, averaged 20.3 points per game, scoring 19 against Fayetteville and 36 against Ozark, made 20 out of 22 free throws including 11 out of 13 against Fayetteville and pulled down 27 rebounds, nine per game including 10 against Fayetteville and 13 against Ozark. Abbey Hoff scored 13 points against Fayetteville.
HAZELWOOD CENTRAL was second to IWA in 2008, losing 62-44, and last year, losing 88-44, but will not play the Red Knights in this year’s championship game. But Central (4-0) will still be playing at Visitation and is the number nine seed and opens up Saturday at 7 p.m. against eighth-seeded Francis Howell. When play resumes Dec. 26 the Hazelwood Central-Francis Howell winner will likely face IWA, barring and upset, while the losers will likely play Parkway South.
Hazelwood Central is in the middle of a 10-day break after winning 64-27 at home Dec. 9 over Ritenour, their fourth game in nine days. Kelsie Williams led the Hawks with 12 points while Jessica Jordan scored 11 and Mallory Meeks added 10.
