Many championship games and/or playoff contests I witnessed this past season were close. Nail-biters. Down to the wire. Some were blowouts, but still a pleasure to watch for effort and quality of performance.

I'm sure you have some not on this list. But checking the memory bank of events, here are ones that come to mind:

The 5A-I girls volleyball final was extraordinary. The three-time defending champs, Xavier, on the ropes against title-hungry Hamilton. This was one of those matches the underdog seemingly was going to win going away. But Xavier had other ideas and summoned the wherewithal to close with a florish and snatch a five-set win. Trailing two games to one and down 9-1 in the fourth game had Xavier lookling shaky at best. But gaining a two-point win to secure a 2-2 tie and force a fifth game was the key. The Gators  momentum carried to an easy 15-6 romp in the deciding game and a fourpeat.

Football had some remarkable playoff games. The best for me was the 4A-II Williams Field-Notre Dame semifinal. Williams Field came away the victor, 49-48, foiling a two-point conversion attempt by Notre Dame with 19 seconds left. Kickoff returns, long pass plays and and a bevy of great individual performances highlighted this one. Williams Field running back Alex Howard scored five touchdowns. Notre Dame quarterback Jordan Gehrke passed for 333 yards and two scored. Wide out Brian Canavan caught 226 yards in passes and scored two TDs for the Saints. Earlier in the year, Williams Field prevailed in come-from-behind fashion, 21-16, over Notre Dame on the Saints' home field at Scottsdale Community College.

Did not see all the football finals, but two I viewed were outstanding. Saguaro preventing Canyon del Oro from repeating in 4A-I at Sun Devil Stadium was one. The premiere players in 4A-I, Saguaro quarterback Teddy Ruben and Canyon del Oro running back Ka'Deem Carey, did not disappoint as Saguaro outscored the Dorados, 41-34. Ruben rushed for 162 yards and four touchdowns; Carey 173 yards and two scores. Saguaro trailed by two touchdowns early in the second half and used a defensive stop in CDO territory to gain momentum and begin their ascent to the lead. About the only thing that stopped the offenses in this game were turnovers. Saguaro snapped a 27-game winning streak by CDO with the win and prevented the Dorados from back-to-back 14-0 seasons.

The 5A-I title game which saw Hamilton threepeat, was closer than expected and the outcome wasn't decided until the final minute thanks to a great overall effort by Desert Ridge. The Jordan Becerra-Joey Counts show nearly brought Desert Ridge a title, testing a stout Hamilton defense to the max in a game finally won by Hamilton, 21-13, at University of Phoenix Stadium. Desert Ridge didn't run roughshod over Hamilton like it did its three previous playoff opponents, but the Huskies came away with great respect for the Jaguars. The game proved to be much more competitive from start to finish than the 5A-II game, which Chaparral won handily over Centennial.

The 5A-I girls soccer title match won by Hamilton, 1-0, over Xavier was a title-worthy matchup. Better than that one was the regular-season meeting between the two, won in double overtime in the final minute by Hamilton, 1-0. In that match a goal - from about 40 yards out -- by Huskies standout Rylie Johnson decided it. Johnson's goal was an arching shot that soared right to left and found the far corner just out of the reach of Xavier keeper Hannah Griffith. It was just one of many fine efforts from Johnson, the state's female Gatorade Player of the Year. The Huskies were the unbeaten in winning their first-ever girls soccer title. Johnson assisted teammate Samantha Weiss on the game-winning goal of the state title win over Xavier.

Mountain View won the 5A-I boys basketball title with an impressive romp over Brophy, 50-29. That win came on the heels of Brophy putting up 96 points the game before against Mesa High in the semfinals. Mountain View's execution on offense, in transition, on defense and its rebounding resulted in the lopsided final. One of the more complete efforts one will see by a team in a title game.

The other boys game I recall was a Mountain View loss in the marquee game of the VisitMesa.com tournament in late December against Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller (Ohio). Mountain View lost the game, 36-35. The tight, tough, man-to-man defense boths schools played that night was a treat. It's not that the teams were not willing to shoot 15-foot jumpers -- they weren't getting any or at least good looks. A departure from many games now that are up-tempo, run-and-gun. 

Baseball and softball supplied a couple of dandy finals. Deer Valley's 4-3 win over Ironwood Ridge in the 5A-II championship game was a classic. Deer Valley all-around standout Lauren Haeger surrendered an early three-run homer, runs allowed of her own making with a walk, hit batter and the homer.

Her teammates scratched across two runs in the sixth to erase a 3-1 deficit and forge a  tie. In the top of the seventh Haeger led off and  drilled her 20th homer of the season for a 4-3 lead. She retired the final 13 batters in succession and struck out the side in the bottom half of the inning to close out Ironwood Ridge. Haeger finished with 15 strikeouts and took home a great memory to end her prep career as she heads to the University of Florida this fall.

The 5A-I baseball final had some odd plays and wrinkles  that made Mountain Pointe's 7-6 extra-inning triumph one to remember. Mountain Pointe, known for its record-setting power all season with 80-plus homers, scored five runs in the first inning with the benefit of just two singles. Walks, an error, a hit batter, a balk and a swipe tag at the first base bag that ended with the ball parachuting in to center field to bring home two runs was bizarre. As had been the case in each of its first four state tournament games, Hamilton rallied from multiple runs back and eventually led, 6-5. That was thanks to two-run, extra-base hits off Mountain Pointe ace Kevin Cron by Hamilton's Parker Osborne (homer) and Trent Goodrich (triple).

Cron, the state's best and most feared hitter (a total of 49 home runs in his junior and senior seasons combined), went hitless in the game (0-for-3). His pitching mate, Jordan Kipper, picked up the slack with four hits, including the game-winning single in the eighth. Cron, despite not having his best night on the mound, was plenty good. He went all eight innings, fanned 14 and ended his prep career with a championship trophy.