Gramp's Braggin' Rights Missouri HS girls basketball ratings - Class Six

FINAL UPDATE MARCH 17TH, 2024

We sometimes learn through hard lessons that there are more important things in life than sports.

We are also reminded by events that life is too short and we need to connect with people and tell them how much we care about them before it is too late.

We also learn that we have to carry on when all seems lost.  We do our best despite the circumstances that might pull us down.

That is the situation last Friday night for the Incarnate Word Red Knights.  Instead of celebrating their semi-final win over a very good Rock Bridge team, they were probably huddled together worrying that the worst might happen to their loved coach, Dan Rolfes, who had suffered a severe medical emergency in the parking lot after their semi-final win.  

Coach Rolfes was rushed to the hospital and appears to have survived this life threatening event and the Red Knights, determined to honor their coach, went out and beat Kickapoo for a second time in a final and won their seventh straight state title.  

It was a monumental task with all the emotions of their coach's situation weighing on them.  Kickapoo gave them everything they had and the Red Knights perservered.  I am sure that Coach Rolfes had a smile on his face after their win but the 24-year-old Tanner Wilkenson, who filled in for Coach Rolfes, had to have an even bigger smile on his face.

It was a moment for the ages.  131 straight wins (just one for Wilkenson) for Red Knights and a seventh straight title.

Congrats to the Red Knights and Coach Rolfes and remember to keep him in your thoughts and prayers, that he makes a full recovery.

Updated March 12th, 2024

It's down to four teams...Incarnate Word, Rock Bridge, Kickapoo, and Cor Jesu.  I know people say, "Anything can happen on a given day" but it seems implausible that Rock Bridge or Kickapoo could rise up and beat down the mighty Red Knights of Incarnate Word Academy.  

Rock Bridge is Gramp's #2 rated team, and they are 17-point underdogs to #1 Incarnate Word.  IN A SEMI-FINAL GAME!     I guess MSHSAA could create a class seven and promote the Red Knights to the next class without promoting anyone else?  That might be the only way any class six school wins a state title for the next umpteenth years.

The winning streak is now at 132 games since their last loss in February of 2020.  Back in the Covid days.  None of the players on this team have ever lost a game.  Never seems like a long time.  Could it happen with Rock Bridge or my other pick for the final game, the 29-1 Kickapoo Lady Chiefs?

Sure, it could, but probably not.  Kickapoo should handle Cor Jesu by 15 and then be facing an 18-point underdog spread vs. Incarnate Word.

I think the streak marches on.

Updated February 29th, 2024

If this was school, I would be getting a detention for posting district ratings a day late, unless I could get one of my daughters to call in with an excuse that I had to go to Urgent Care.

Actually, I did go to Urgent Care yesterday, being treated for a case of bronchitis from our cruise last week.  "Day late and a dollar short", my Grandpa used to say.  I hope you will cut me some slack.

I haven't updated Class Six Girls since mid-January but there have not been a lot of changes.  I think there might have been a couple of first-round games that did not go my way but they were games between teams ranked within a point of each other.

So how do the districts look?  Here's a run-down:

District One - Cor Jesu looks like a clear winner but Jackson, Lindbergh, and Oakville could make noise

District Two - Marquette might challenge Eureka but this could be the Wildcats best chance in the state tournament since they won it all in 2000.  Coach Herbert has them playing confidently and they could go to the semi-finals or final with a good run, but they have to take care of business in district play.

District Three - Incarnate Word continues its winning streak and should take a seventh straight state title and 12th in 15 years under Coach Rolfes.  Kickapoo, Rock Bridge, Hickman, Liberty North or Staley might give them trouble, but they would have to have an off-night to not bring home more gold.

District Four - Troy Buchanan is the clear favorite

District Five - The Kickapoo - Nixa district final could be a buzzer-beater kind of game, but don't count out Republic.

District Six - Lee's Summit North should put away league rival Lee's Summit but the teams split their home-and-away series so anything is possible.

District Seven - Rock Bridge and Hickman should face off in the final but don't expect this to be the blow-out in late January when RB trounced the Kewpies by 25.  Another barn-burner final and the winner could go deep in the tournament.

District Eight - #1 seed Staley has a slight edge over #2 seed, Liberty North, but they split their home-and-away games, with Liberty winning by two and Staley winning convincingly by nineteen.  This should be another close final.

Good luck to all teams!

Updated January 18th, 2024

The #2 through #8 teams in the state are so hard to differentiate but that isn't the question!  The question is, "Is anyone going to catch the Incarnate Word Red Knights down the stretch?"  It will take a monumental effort and the Red Knights will have to have an off night.

Time will tell.  Here's a look at Gramps Missouri Class Six Girls basketball:

 

Updated January 7th, 2024

It has been a busy first week, trying to catch up on all the holiday tournament games.  I also spent a few days answering inquiries and deflection insults from a small minority of respondents to my class six boys' ratings.

As I have said, on several occasions, I will re-examine my ratings if someone politely suggests an error in calculations.  I only asked that people provide game details, ie. boys or girls, teams involved, and the game scores they think to support their inquiry.  Often, that one game does not override the team's season rating.  Often, these are "upsets" and not a clear indication of one team's superior rating.

I have had a few readers who do not understand that impolite and rude behavior will not win me over to their opinion, even when the statistics plainly show the opposite.  I ended up blocking an idiot this past week after explaining the statistical significance of a stronger schedule and how it impacts a team's rating, no matter what their record might be.

That brings me to the Class Six Missouri girls ratings and I fully expect that the fans for the girl's teams are more civilized than some on the boy's side.  Or, I hope so.  I really need to just ignore criticism as this old Fart rates every team numerically for the state in both girls and boys basketball.  No one does that and no one does it with the accuracy of my statistical model.  Nuff said.

There is no question who the top class six team is in the state of Missouri.... Incarnate Word just won their 110th consecutive win.  They had a close shave with John Burroughs, winning by four points.  The next best opponents were Bartlett Tennesee (15-point loser) and 7-6 Eureka (17-point loser).  Someone might top the Red Knights, but it might be a while.

The next six spots could go into a hat and I would be happy with any order.  I have listed the Missouri Basketball Coaches poll in the right-hand column.  Kickapoo, Rock Bridge, Liberty North, Troy Buchanan, and Staley are all great teams but I have to give Kickapoo (11-1, only a two-point loss to 5-6 Battle) a very slight edge over Rock Bridge, based on their 1-point OT win.  Liberty North (8-0) has a two-point win over Staley (11-1).  Troy Buchanan, with an 11-1 record with only a two-point loss to Quincy Notre Dame, is also in the hunt.

Hickman, Nixa, Lee's Summit North, St. Joseph Academy, and Eureka are all deserving of MBCA top-10 consideration but only Nixa (at #9) is included.  Hickman is an honorable mention but neither Lee's Summit North nor Eureka have gotten a sniff from the coaches poll.  The head-scratcher for me is the MBCA #10, Francis Howell Central (7-1), who has had some great teams in the past but are 20-point underdog to the teams I just listed above.  Howell Central's one loss is by 33 points to Lutheran St. Charles, who by contrast, also beat Hickman by six.  Cor Jesu, another MBCA honorable mention, lost to Troy by six and Eureka by 18.  The last head-scratcher is Glendale, listed at #8 in the MBCA, who started 11-0, but have lost three straight and are #18 in Gramp's ratings.

So, now I have probably angered someone with these statistical ratings, but here are my latest class six girls:

Posted December 15th, 2023

It has been a busy week for me and for Missouri Girl's high school basketball.

I had my second cataract surgery last Wednesday and everything looks a lot better and brighter with the new lenses.  20/20 in both eyes although I probably need some cheater reading glasses at times, but the vision is so much better.

With that said, Gramp's Braggin' Rights ratings are still a work in process with many teams rated based on just a couple of games.  The ratings will be much cleaner and clearer in January as the games pile up and the ratings are more robust.

What is clear is that Incarnate Word is a clear #1 based on a couple of local St. Louis games.  While IWA is off cleaning up on nationally ranked teams in Lehi, Utah, the rest of the pack is battling for #2 with a gaggle of great teams including Kickapoo, Rock Bridge, Troy Buchanan, Liberty North, Republic, Staley, and Hickman all looking very good.

Coached by Dan Rolfes, the Red Knights come into this season with a 100-game win streak and have added four wins to that streak.  Besides the unlucky teams in their conference, just a handful of Missouri teams, including Eureka, Park Hill South, Lutheran St. Charles, and John Burroughs have scheduled games vs. the Red Knights.  Good luck to all those teams.  Hope you can keep it close.  A 20-point loss might be a moral victory vs. this awesome girls' team.  The crazy part of it is that IWA only has three seniors on the team so some might call them "young" but they only graduated four from last year's squad.  The beat goes on with the Red Knights.