The Homewood-Flossmoor girls golf team came up short Saturday at the Class AA state finals at Hickory Point Golf Course in Forsyth.
New Trier edged the Vikings 627 strokes to 630 to win the state title. H-F was looking to win back-to-back titles and the program's seventh overall.
Marian Catholic finished sixth (686).
Homewood-Flossmoor's Ashley Armstrong finished third overall with a 145. She said maybe the Vikings looked ahead a little bit.
"We were undefeated coming into state, and I think we just had a little bit too much confidence coming into this weekend," Armstrong said. "It just wasn't our weekend. We played great all season long, and we just had one off weekend, and it happened to be at state. It's kind of unfortunate, but that's golf."
Armstrong had an eagle on No. 12 after struggling on the front nine.
"I knew everything was close because I knew there were people that weren't playing well, so I knew I just had to start dropping stuff," she said. "I hit a good drive for the first time all weekend. I hit it about 170 yards in. I just hit a knockdown for the hybrid because the wind was kind of into us right to left, and it just made it to about six, seven, or eight feet, something like that. I made the putt, and that felt really good."
But the Notre Dame recruit bogeyed No. 13 and had trouble on No. 14.
"I hit my wood off a tee (on No. 13) , and it hit the fairway and kicked right into a divot in the rough. I had a bad lie, the wind was behind me," Armstrong said. "I thought I hit a really good shot. People said it was by the green, but it just hit a huge kick and went to the back of the green. I had a bad lie in the rough on the deck, so it was just one of those unlucky holes. The wind was horrible on that hole, and I saw everyone else come up short, so I decided to club up a few, and I clubbed up three. Bad decision."
H-F coach Rick Pavinato said his team never gave up, despite having a few bad holes.
"I think they played their hearts out today. I think they gave it their all," Pavinato said. "New Trier played tough. They played well over two days, so they bested us by one. Our team played their hearts out there. It was definitely close. Definitely close."
Marian Catholic's Sylvie Brick was ninth (154) and H-F's Michelle Mayer was 10th (155).
Brick said said she played better Saturday (74) than on Friday (81). She had an eagle on No. 11.
"I kind of wanted to move into that top 20," Brick said. "That was kind of my goal coming in here, and I hope to come back next year and see if I can do better.
"I think I was just more relaxed today, had more confidence, and just went out there and had more fun. I just wanted to enjoy it, and I took my time, relaxed, and it all kind of came together."
In the boys Class 2A state meet at Weibring Golf Course at Illinois State University, Illiana Christian's Josh Davis finished in a five-way tie for 35th place (167).
Teammate Jonathan Zandstra finished in an eight-way for 47th (170).
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