RAPID CITY – Palmer Johnson won his final three matches of the day to secure fifth place in the singles portion of the Rapid City Invitational tennis tournament on Friday.

Three other Cavaliers fell in fifth place matches, one in a tiebreaker. Ironically, all of Roncalli’s fifth place matches were against cross-town rival Aberdeen Central. The two teams will play each other in a dual on Tuesday.

“It was a nice win for Palmer in the foreshadowing of Tuesday’s hometown matchup,” said Roncalli coach Paige Hermanson.

Johnson edged AJ Prehn 8-6 to grab fifth place at second flight singles.

“They’re familiar opponents to one another, which can have its pros and cons,” Hermanson said. “Every time it looked lilke the ball was getting away from Palmer or he might be getting into a tricky scenario, he just kept going and just kept getting to the ball and kept it in motion until he could hit a more favorable shot.”

Gannon May at flight three, Sawyer Henrich at flight four, and Jacob Bellefeuille at flight six each finished sixth. Bellefeuille fell in a tiebreaker to Central’s Hunter Miller.

“The windy conditions have really placed a challenge in front of our crew,” Hermanson said, “but I was very happy to see a lot of resiliency among these guys.”

The Cavaliers will compete in the doubles portion of the tournament today.

Singles

Flight One

CASON HELLWIG: lost to Nolan Rehorst, Rapid Stevens, 10-4; lost to Michael Levine, St. Thomas More, 10-4; lost to Rudy Isburg, Spearfish, by default.

Flight Two

PALMER JOHNSON: lost to Cole Murray, Brandon Valley, 10-5; def. Nathaniel Flynn, Rapid City Stevens, 8-2; def. Nick Wise, Spearfish, 8-0; def. AJ Prehn, Aberdeen Central, 8-6. FIFTH PLACE.

Flight Three

GANNON MAY: lost to Levi Loken, Mitchell, 10-8; def. Andrew Levine, St. Thomas More, 8-4; def. Dennis Crandall, Spearfish, 8-4; Jayden Reecy lost to Sekou Gogue, Aberdeen Central, 8-0. SIXTH PLACE.

Flight Four

SAWYER HENRICH: lost to Drake Henrich, Mitchell, 10-0; def. Braeden Strain, St. Thomas More, 8-3; def. Austin O’Bryan, Spearfish, 8-3; lost to Jack Riggs, Aberdeen Central, 8-4. SIXTH PLACE.

Flight Five

EZRA FEICKERT: lost to Noah Geyer, Rapid City Christian, 10-0; lost to Leo Isburg, Spearfish; lost to Matthew Mauszycki, Mitchell, 8-0; def. Carter Stamper, St. Thomas More, 8-2. NINTH PLACE.

Flight Six

JACOB BELLEFEUILLE: lost to Zach Fuhrer, Mitchell, 10-1; def. Parker Cotts, Rapid City Stevens, 8-6; def. Peyton Taylor, Rapid City Central, 8-2; lost to Hunter Miller, Aberdeen Central, 8-6 (7-4). SIXTH PLACE.