Basketball appeared at the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis for the first time as a demonstration sport.
There were seven different events that took place: an amateur championship, a college championship, a YMCA championship, two high school championships, and two elementary school championships.Olympedia report on 1904 basketball events
Men's amateur championships The Buffalo German YMCA dominated the men's championship while other teams frequently failed to field a complete team or show up for all their scheduled games, resulting in several lopsided scores and forfeited matches.
Round-robin table results +TeamWinsLossesPoints (Table)Points ForPoints AgainstBuffalo German YMCA5010354120Chicago Central YMCA4189054Missouri Athletic Club32651136St. Louis Central YMCA23476121Xavier Athletic Club04080133Turner Tigers04018105
Individual game results Match #Winning teamFinal scoreLosing teamMatch #1Buffalo German YMCA 77 – 6Turner TigersMatch #2Buffalo German YMCA36 – 28Xavier Athletic ClubMatch #3Buffalo German YMCA105 – 50St. Louis Central YMCAMatch #4Chicago Central YMCA56 – 15Xavier Athletic ClubMatch #5Chicago Central YMCA2 – 0 (Forfeit)Turner TigersMatch #6Missouri Athletic Club2 – 0 (Forfeit)St. Louis Central YMCAMatch #7Chicago Central YMCA2 – 0 (Forfeit)Missouri Athletic ClubMatch #8Missouri Athletic Club39 – 37Xavier Athletic ClubMatch #9St. Louis Central YMCA24 – 12Turner TigersMatch #10Buffalo German YMCA39 – 28Chicago Central YMCAMatch #11Buffalo German YMCA97 – 8Missouri Athletic ClubMatch #12Chicago Central YMCA2 – 0 (Forfeit)St. Louis Central YMCAMatch #13Missouri Athletic Club2 – 0 (Forfeit)Turner TigersMatch #14St. Louis Central YMCA2 – 0 (Forfeit)Xavier Athletic ClubMatch #15Xavier Athletic ClubBoth teams failed to appear (No contest)Turner Tigers
College basketball
Hiram College def. Wheaton College, 23–20 Hiram College def. Latter-day Saints' University, 25–18 Wheaton College def. Latter-day Saints' University, 40–35
Hiram College, 2–0 Wheaton College, 1–1 Latter-day Saints' University, 0–2
Women's basketball
The Fort Shaw Indian School Girls Basketball Team faced off against the Missouri All-Stars, alumnae of Central High in St. Louis. Fort Shaw won the first game 24-2. The St. Louis team failed to show up for the second game and forfeited. However, the team asked to continue the competition and Fort Shaw agreed. At the end of the second game the score stood 17 to 6, winning the Fort Shaw girls the title as the basketball champions of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. On August 25 the girls won the silver and gold cup for women's basketball at the fair. Despite being signed up to play only in the women's basketball bracket, the team won in the general competition, something which was conveniently omitted from Spalding's Athletic Almanac. The Fort Shaw team story is told in a book entitled Full Court Quest.
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