January 23, 2004 marked the day the Rock Creek boys basketball team earned its first win, and they couldn’t have done it in a better way. The boys took out the number two ranked team in the state.

When Rock Creek entered the Canton-Galva tournament, they were the eighth seed and no one expected them to do anything; except the boys themselves. Belle Plaine was the first to find out that Rock Creek was for real!

In Rock Creek’s 54-50 win over Belle Plaine, Adam Umscheid and Brad Swoyer combined for 39 of Rock Creek’s 54 points with Umscheid at 20 and Swoyer with 19. Rock Creek jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter and never looked back, although it was a little too close for comfort at some points.

It was all square going into the fourth quarter, but the Mustangs showed their determination by hitting key free throws toward the end of the game.

The next team to face the wrath of the Mustangs was the Douglass Bulldogs. They destroyed the Bulldogs in a 71-40 win. The scoring was very evenly distributed. Umscheid, Dustin Vaughan, Marc Stueve, and Jesse Doll all ended up in double figures. The game started out in a heated battle, but the Mustangs pulled away after the first quarter. In the next three quarters, the Mustangs outscored the Bulldogs 43-13. They showed off their defense by holding Douglass to only five points in the second quarter. Again, Rock Creek’s free throw shooting helped them prevail.

The team shot 80 percent from the line and moved on to face the Ell-Saline Cardinals in the championship game.

The Mustang’s run was ended in the championship game of the tournament. The Cardinals came out shooting to get the early lead. This early show of shooting proved to be too much for the Mustangs who could never overcome the deficit. After the first quarter, the Cardinals began to pound the ball into their posts and eat away at the Mustang defenses. The Mustangs got beat badly on the boards, which proved to be the deciding factor in the loss.

Coach Johnston said after the game, “I’m proud of them for the whole tournament.”

After the Mustangs were awarded their second place medals, they announced the all-tournament team. Umscheid and Stueve both made the team.