The South Dakota High School Activities Association has issued a statement regarding SDHSAA rules and policies after Sioux Falls Christian students stormed the court following a buzzer beater to beat Maȟpíya Lúta in the Class A state girl’s basketball championship Saturday night (3-15-25) in Spearfish.
“A photo going around social media says that storming the court is a technical foul per SDHSAA rules. This appears to be a search engine/AI generated response and is incorrect. There is no NFHS or SDHSAA rule indicating a technical foul for court storming,” SDHSAA Executive Director Dan Swartos said in a statement.
Sioux Falls Christian’s Lezlei Setzer scored a basket after gathering a rebound from a missed free throw as time expired to lift the Chargers to a 57-56 win over previously unbeaten Maȟpíya Lúta.
Fans stormed the court following the game-winning shot, a violation of an SDHSAA policy.
“SDHSAA does have a policy stating that if fans come onto the court following a game, the medals and trophy are supposed to be given to a team representative rather than individually out to the players,” Swartos said in the statement posted on X. “This policy was not followed (Saturday) night. I take responsibility for that and apologize for it.”
Swartos said he regrets “an incredible contest between two excellent teams has been sidelined by my policy mistake and I apologize to the teams, coaches and fans for that.”
