This is the time of year where every student keeps looking out the window and looking forward to the day they can sleep late and while away the hours in the summertime.

School will be out in a couple of weeks and with that comes the end of yet another great high school athletic season.

I had the pleasure of being here to see most of it, having started at The Democrat about midway through the football regular season.

This school year saw several teams win district, region, South State and State championships and many individual players step up their games to lead their team to greatness. Trinity stayed strong in nearly every sport. Natchez High shinned with their first district win in tennis and a trip to nationals for a few powerlifters.

So in honor of yet another school year passing by, I’ve decided to come up with a list of what I consider the best sports stories of the year.

The area saw so many great stories and moments this year. It’s impossible to fit them in approximately a 15-inch column, but here are some of the ones that stand out to me.

Game of the year: I have lost count of the number of games I attended this year in many different sports. There were many great and important games that I had the pleasure of watching but one stands out in my mind.

I normally am not a big basketball fan but the MHSAA Class 1A South State Tournament play-in game between Cathedral and Sebastopol was one that could turn anyone into a basketball junkie.

The Green Wave looked like they were rolling to victory, up 21 points with under seven minutes remaining.

But the Bobcats began a furious comeback, cutting the lead to three points in the final minute.

However, before a large, enthusiastic crowd, Cathedral was able to make enough plays down the stretch to hang on 67-63 and advance to the South State Tournament for the first time in memory.

Student-athlete of the year: The term student-athlete gets tossed around so much these days that it has lost some of its meaning.

However, the person who exemplifies what a high school student-athlete should be is Trinity’s Parker Brumfield.

Yes, Brumfield is a talented athlete. He played five different sports for the Saints — football, basketball, baseball, track and tennis — and performed well in all of them, helping the Saints win a district championship in each.

But Brumfield’s biggest accomplishment was winning the first-place scholarship award at the Miss-Lou chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame banquet in February.

Brumfield was honored for not only his athletic achievements, but the fact that he is a top-flight student and very active in the community.

High school athletes should be role models for their classmates because they are the ones many students, especially younger kids, look up to.

Brumfield fits that bill perfectly.

Accomplishment of the year: They might not have won any state championships this year, but Trinity accomplished something almost as great.

In their first year in Class AA, the Saints won district championships in five different boys sports; football, basketball, baseball, track and field and tennis.

And it wasn’t just a case of the Saints playing in a weak district. They started the football season 13-0 and advanced to the South State championship game, and made the Overall Tournament in basketball.

There are many other great stories and moments from this past year. It’s been a blast to cover and while many students wish summer would last forever, I can’t wait until the next school year starts.

Jeff Edwards is the sports editor of The Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3633 or jeff.edwards@natchezdemocrat.com.