In a year of ups and downs, the Washington High Rams ended their season with a tight loss to Youngker and Moon Valley on Tuesday.

Washington came into the match riding some recent momentum after a couple of resounding wins, so confidence was high for a team that was playing in its last match of the season. Head coach Brian Patterson was excited to get out onto the course.

“After having won a couple of our last few matches, I was excited for the team to go out there one last time and try to end the year with a victory against two great schools,” Patterson said.

After it was all said and done, Washington was not able to win its last match of the season, mainly because they did not have enough players to compete in the match. To be able to qualify to win a match, the team must have at least four players competing. Washington was only able to send out three players on the course.

“It was unfortunate that we were not able to qualify for the match today,” Patterson said, “but I hope the players who were able to compete enjoyed their time out on the course for one last time.”

Although Washington did not have a majority of its players out on the course, Angel Rios and Brandon Higbee, the top two players on the team, were still able to compete one last time.

Rios, a senior playing in his final match at Washington High, shot a 55 on the day, 19 strokes over par. It was not his best day out on the course, but he did take some positives away from the afternoon.

“I was putting pretty good,” said Rios. “It was probably the best I have putt all season.”

Patterson was happy to see that Rios was putting the ball well because he stressed that in practice in preparation for the final day.

“What I like hearing from them is that both of the things they took positives from are two things that we were really working on,” said Patterson.

Patterson was also referring to Higbee, a sophomore playing in his second year on the team. Rios was not the only one who took positives away from a tough day on the course; Higbee also had his fair share.

“The best part that I will take away from today is my driving,” said Higbee. “They were a lot straighter than usual. I was also putting a lot better.”

On a day where the temperatures were a little cooler than usual this time of year, it was still tough for some of the players to deal with the heat. Windy conditions proved challenging as well.

Between the three schools competing for the win, only one team had enough players to qualify for the match. Youngker High School came out on top, even though Moon Valley delivered the best performance. The top player on Moon Valley shot a 42 on the day, just 6 shots over par.

The Rams finished with a record of 3-7, but Rios and Patterson are both expecting big things for the program in the next couple of years.

“I think this team will become pretty good in the next few years,” said Rios.

“One thing I’m looking for next year is to be more competitive,” said Patterson. “Hopefully that leads us to getting closer to the state championship.”