Back in 1928 five boys at Pawnee Valley wanted to play basketball. Needing five to make a team, three eighth graders sought out a 7th grader and 6th grader to fill the roster, which consisted of Dean Hand, Forrest Harper, Lawrence Young, Dick Stillman, and John Santomaso. Their “gymnasium” was set in buffalo sod grass, with handmade iron hoops to throw the ball through. The backboards were weathered pretty bad but would do.

The first thing the boys had to do was ask a teacher to get a rule book so they could lay out the proper court dimensions. They used a slacked line to draw out the out-of-bounds lines, and free-throw lines, as well as to get the basketball hoop to the correct height. Then they leveled out the court as best they could by filling a couple gopher holes and demolishing the ant hills.

The boys invited the 8th grade team from Willard School for the inaugural game. Dean Hand recalls that he and his Pawnee squad were “as nervous as cats” the afternoon of the game. Fans from both teams, made up of mostly mothers, offered words of encouragement to both sides. Ice was even retrieved from the local ice house to fill a bathtub of soda for halftime and after the game. The Pawnee boys remembered the boys from Willard School were a little embarrassed when they arrived in their basketball uniforms to see their competition donning their typical bib overalls. One of the boys, perhaps Forrest Harper suggested the group lose their shirt, as an intimidation tactic.

The game started with the whistle and the Pawnee boys were off to a quick start. Turns out the Willard boys were used to dribbling a ball on uneven sod. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for Willard to figure things out, and by the end of the second half the scoreboard was as lob-sided as the court. Nonetheless, at the end of the game both sides were courteous in either defeat or victory. Willard even extended an invitation for a return engagement on their home court--but the Pawnee boys decided to pass on that particular rematch…