FLOWOOD — In their last high school golf tournament together, St. Aloysius teammates Gabriel Riveros and Channing Curtis turned in a couple of solid rounds and left the course with a couple of trophies just like they’d done dozens of times over the past six years.

It just wasn’t as good a round, or the trophies, that they really wanted.

Riveros and Curtis each shot 75 to finish fourth and sixth in the individual standings, respectively, and St. Al totaled 318 shots as a team to place second in the team competition at the MAIS Class AAA state tournament at The Refuge Golf Course.

Their tie was broken by a scorecard playoff, and after six remarkable years their successful partnership came to an end. Curtis, a junior, and Riveros, a senior, led St. Al to four consecutive MHSAA Class 1A championships from 2011-14, a second-place finish in the Class 1A tournament in 2015, and another runner-up finish this year, their first in the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools.

Riveros and Curtis have finished in the top 10 of the individual standings of every state tournament they’ve played in since joining the varsity team.

“It sucks,” Curtis said, quietly, as he choked back tears.

Later, after collecting himself, Curtis said the reality of no longer competing alongside his friend had hit him, as did the fact he and his teammates weren’t able to send Riveros out with another state title.

“Six strokes is such a small margin. It just hit that that was Gabe’s last high school tournament and we couldn’t deliver for him,” Curtis said.

Riveros, for his part, seemed to take the end of his high school career in stride.

“It hasn’t hit me yet. I couldn’t have done it without old Coach (Jim) Taylor,” Riveros said, referring to St. Al’s golf coach when he joined the team. “Channing has definitely helped me be the golfer I am today, for sure. Every time we go to Clear Creek, since seventh grade, we go out at 8 in the morning and play 36 holes and just compete.”

Heritage Academy won the team championship with a score of 312, and North Delta’s Will Kidder took medalist honors after shooting a 1-under par 71.

Both numbers were probably out of reach for St. Al’s top two golfers, but it didn’t stop them from feeling like they could have made a better run at it. Riveros and Curtis both double-bogeyed their final hole — Riveros on No. 9 and Curtis on No. 10 — and both said there were several other makeable shots that they missed during the round.

Riveros missed a short par putt and made bogey on the fifth hole. On his final hole, Curtis hit into some trees on the left side, recovered onto the fairway, then chipped to the back of the green to leave himself with a difficult lie. He then chipped and two-putted for a double bogey.

“It was OK. I doubled my last hole, so I didn’t finish too good. It is what it is. It’s a tough course. I should’ve done better,” Curtis said. “It’s pretty disappointing. We got beat by a good team. Me and Gabe should’ve played better. I made two doubles and missed a bunch of six-foot birdie putts.”

St. Al’s Nos. 3 and 4 golfers helped pick up some of the slack with solid rounds of their own. Wilson Palmertree and Phillip Upshaw both shot 84. It was the best round of the season for Upshaw. That allowed the Flashes to stay comfortably ahead of North Delta, which had a team score of 324 to finish third, and Manchester Academy, which was fourth at 325.

Heritage, though, had all four of its golfers shoot 84 or better. Dalton Ford led the way with a 72 and finished second, one shot behind the medalist Kidder.

Moak Griffin tied Riveros and Curtis with a 75 and was awarded fifth place after the scorecard playoff. Cason Westmoreland shot an 81 and Robert Brown an 84 to round out Heritage’s team scorecard.

“It’s not our best. Our best was at the St. Al Invitational when we broke 310. So we could have done a little better. I’m happy with what Phillip shot. That was his best,” Riveros said.

Riveros said the format of the tournament — one round instead of two, like the MHSAA uses, worked against the Flashes. The one-day tournament favors a hot golfer instead of a steadier hand, he said.

“If it was a two-day tournament, I feel like we could have had a better chance,” Riveros said. “The second day, you kind of know what you need to do and you can improve. It’s kind of luck when it’s one day. When it’s one day, it has to be your day. You can’t come back and make up what you did wrong.”