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The death of former Selma High star athlete Anthony Thompson is The Selma Times-Journal’s top sports story of 2021.

Known as “Big A,” Thompson died Feb. 8. He was a baseball and football standout at Selma between 1983-86. Thompson was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1987 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft.  He spent a year in the Pirates’ minor league organization.

Here are the other big stories from 2021:

2. Longtime Dallas County High School assistant coach Christopher Harrell was fatally shot Feb. 4 near Lannie’s BBQ on Medical Center Parkway after an attempted robbery.

3. Keith’s historic run to the Class 1A state football quarterfinals. The Bears finished 11-2 and lost to Brantley in the postseason.

4. Southside’s football season: If not for the Bears, Southside would’ve been the top high school football story.  The Panthers went 10-2 and hosted a first-round playoff contest, falling to Bayside Academy.

5. All-state football picks: Fourteen players from Dallas County private and public schools made the Alabama Sports Writers Association All-State Football Team, the largest local contingent in years.

Morgan Academy’s Trey Jones, Wade Mason and Andrew Thomas, and Southside’s Mariyon Johnson made the team for the second straight year.

6. Morgan Academy wins AISA golf title: Led by Alabama signee Jones Free, the Senators won a third straight golf title.

7. Morgan Academy wins AISA tennis title: The Senators captured the crown.

8. Keith and Southside both reached the Southwest Regional finals in basketball.

9. All-state basketball picks: Seven players from Dallas County private and public schools make the ASWA All-State Team.

Keith’s Trey Tisdale; Bailey Brown of Morgan Academy; and Tae Spears of Southside were among those who made all-state last year.

10 (tie). Dallas County Dixie Youth Baseball Team wins 11-12-year-old state title and advances to the Dixie Youth World Series.

10 (tie): Former Morgan Academy track coach and teacher Allen Wayne Robinson, known as “Coach Rob,” died Sept. 13.