Philip downed Rapid City Christian in three sets, 25-9, 26-24, 25-11, on Saturday.

Kristy Shultz led Christian with five kills and Valerie Gramann added four. Nikki Blumenthal dished out 53 assists for the Crusaders.

Philip (35-3 overall) is at New Underwood on Monday, while Christian closes out its regular season at home on Monday against Kadoka.

Central sponsoring fan bus to first-round playoff game in Brookings

RAPID CITY - Rapid City Central High School will be sponsoring a football fan bus for the first round SDHSAA football playoff game at Brookings on Tuesday. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m. MDT at Coughlin-Alumni Stadium on the campus of South Dakota State University in Brookings.

Cost for the fan bus is $25 per person and is open to parents, adult fans and students. The bus will depart Rapid City Central at 11 a.m. and will return immediately following the game. Students will need a signed parental permission slip before they will be allowed to ride the bus.

To reserve a seat on the bus, please contact the Central High School Activities Office at 605-394-4041 by 4 p.m. on Monday.

If you have any questions, please contact the Central High School Activities Office.

Chadron State lands 12 on RMAC all-academic team

Twelve Chadron State College football players have been named to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference All-Academic First Team.

Two others were named to the second team and 17 were named honorable mention.

No other school had more than four players named to the first team and CSC led the conference with 14 total players recognized on the first and second teams.

To be eligible for the academic teams, a player must maintain a grade point average of at least 3.20 and be a key contributor on offense, defense or special teams.

The offensive unit is dominated by CSC as five Eagles fill the 11 available spots, led by academic player of the year in senior quarterback Joe McLain of Chadron.

In addition to McLain, tailback John Ritzen, of Chadron, wide receiver Brandon Harrington, of Grand Island, Neb., center Chance Galey of Crawford, Neb., and offensive guard Tim Hiett of Arvada, Colo., were named to the first-team offense.

McLain, Galey and Harrington were all unanimous selections to the first team. The three players were also first-team selections in 2007. In addition, Harrington was named the kick returner on the all-academic second team.

Five Eagles were placed on the defensive first team. They are defensive end Shaine Odell, of Camp Crook, defensive tackle Aaron Ide, of Holdrege, Neb., defensive end Jared Koester, of Peetz, Colo., linebacker Zach Wheeler, of Sheridan, Wyo., and safety Craig Kaiser, of Merino, Colo.

CSC also fared well on special teams with kicker Travis Atter, of Buffalo, Wyo., and punter Kevin Berg, of Longmont, Colo., garnering first team nods.

CSC's second team selections are offensive lineman Ben Puffer, of Hot Springs, and outside linebacker Aaron Bauer, of Chadron.

Rushmores tournament run

comes to an end

The South Dakota Rushmores baseball tournament came to an abrupt halt Saturday morning when the San Diego Padres claimed a 6-2 victory in the semifinals.

The Padres scored two runs in the top of the first as a result of a ball that couldn't be caught and an infield squibber that couldn't be fielded. Pitcher Lee Goldammer then shut the door on the Padres until the eighth inning.

The Rushmores couldn't get many threats against the Padres pitcher, but in the fifth, South Dakota got a two-out walk from Dale McElhany and Glynn Grantham chased him home with a triple.

In the top of the eighth, San Diego broke through for two more runs and then added two more in the ninth.

Trailing 6-1, the Rushmores mounted their own rally in the bottom of the inning. Nick Pashulka led off with a triple. After a pop out Howie Bich singled to center.

Beattie and Ev Bradshaw singled to load the bases. The Padres then turned a grounder into a force out at the plate and the game ended when the next batter grounded out to third.

The Rushmores finished with a 5-2 record.