The 2008-09 academic year featured many memorable athletic moments.

Below is a list of the 10 best games of that time period that were covered by The Clanton Advertiser. Games were judged based on the way they ended as well as the significance of the outcome.

10. Mustangs win wild one

March 23: Isabella outlasted Thorsby, 18-16, in an eight-inning slugfest of a softball game.

The two teams combined for 38 hits, 11 walks and nine errors and scored in 13 of 16 half-innings.

The game was either tied or the lead changed hands on nine occasions.

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9. Mustangs off to best start ever

Sept. 12, 2008: There were some tense moments, but the Isabella volleyball team defeated Marbury in the last match of the day to clinch the Isabella Invitational tournament and remain unbeaten on the year.

The Class 2A No. 7 Mustangs (11-0, a school best start) defeated both LAMP and Thorsby before the match-up with Marbury.

Before the tournament, the Bulldogs were the only team to have taken a game from Isabella this season, and they did it again on Saturday.

Marbury took Game 1 26-24 after trailing 18-23. The Mustangs came back with a vengeance, though, with a 25-6 win in Game 2 and a 15-5 decision in Game 3.

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8. Fourth-quarter rally lifts Marbury over Comer

Oct. 3, 2008: The Marbury football team used fourth-quarter touchdowns by brothers Wesley and Pierre Warren and a game-saving tackle as time expired to overcome a 10-point deficit and defeat B.B. Comer, 28-22.

Houston Powell and Brandon Locker teamed up to tackle the B.B. Comer quarterback at the Marbury 2-yard line at the end of the game.

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7. Rebels into final round

Jan. 9: Thorsby’s boys basketball team earned a berth in the Chilton County Basketball Tournament’s championship game with an exciting 54-52 decision over Jemison.

The Rebels will face Chilton County High at 6:30 p.m.

Eddie Hubbard banked in a 3-pointer with 1:24 left to give Thorsby a 53-52 lead, and Jemison couldn’t convert on any of three possessions with the clock winding down.

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6. Billingsley comes up two extra points short at Linden

Sept. 25, 2008: Two missed extra points in the second half doomed the Billingsley football team in a 27-26 loss at Linden.

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5. Two times tragic

Nov. 14, 2008: The Billingsley Bears football team matched homestanding Linden touchdown for touchdown, but could only make one conversion, and that was again the difference as the Bears fell to the No. 3 Patriots 33-32 in the second round of the Class 1A playoffs.

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4. Rebels are county champs

April 14: Have you ever coached a baseball game using a cell phone while driving down the road?

You might not be able to say you have, but Thorsby’s head baseball coach, Ab Argent, can now add such an accomplishment to his resume.

With his team set to play in the Chilton County Baseball Tournament championship, Argent was off to scout the Rebels’ opponent, Ranburne, in the Class 2A state playoffs set to start Friday.

With Argent on the cell phone in the dug out, his team came back from two runs down to beat the homestanding Jemison Panthers and claim the county championship, winning 5-3.

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3. 7th grader gives Panthers historic win

March 12: Jemison’s boys tennis team defeated St. James for the first time in coach Benton Morton’s eight years, and the 5-4 decision came down to the last match of the day.

Seventh grader Jake Long was carried off the court by his teammates after his 10-6 win in the No. 6 singles position improved the Panthers to 4-0 on the season.

“The whole place watching, girls and boys…the pressure,” Morton said. “I couldn’t even watch myself.

“He was nervous, but he seemed pretty cool.”

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2. Tigers are playoff bound

April 10: Chilton County’s baseball team defeated Carver-Montgomery, 9-8, to secure the program’s first playoff berth since 2003 in coach Josey Shannon’s first year.

CCHS was three outs away from reaching the playoffs, but Carver would not go down without a fight as the Wolverines rallied to score three runs on two hits and on error in the bottom of the seventh inning.

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1. Streak-busting seniors

Aug. 28, 2008: Jemison tried something different this year.

Usually a motivational tactic in the offseason, Panthers football coach Brad Abbott said there was no mention beforehand of the team’s pending game against rival Chilton County.

It worked. Jemison broke its four-year losing streak to the Tigers (0-1) with a 28-21 win.

Eric Argo and running back Merrell Morrow—and the rest of the Jemison seniors—avoided ending their careers without a win over their rivals when they connected on the 33-yard game-winning play with 59 seconds remaining in the game.

Pressure forced Argo out of the pocket, and he rolled left as Morrow broke off his designed slant route and found space in the middle of the field. Argo dumped it off, and Morrow did the rest.

– compiled by Stephen Dawkins