With two starters and one key reserve out serving suspension for violation of team rules, top-seeded Panther Creek was on the brink of elimination in its sectional final game with Southern Durham.

The Catamounts got a Herculean effort from Mike Hood — a senior who was thrust into the starting lineup and had scored 29 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 from three — yet were still down a point with a minute to go in our TCN Game of the Year.

Down 64-63, Panther Creek senior Tyler Gattis was at the free throw line with 51.8 seconds left, but missed the first of two shots.

A packed house at PCHS groaned as Gattis also clanked the second free throw, but no — a lane violation by Southern Durham gave Gattis a third try at the same 15-foot freebie.

This time, Gattis swished it through.

With everyone on their feet and the score tied, Southern began winding down the clock near halfcourt.

Each Spartan player took turns dribbling off seconds before handing the ball off to a teammate.

It appeared Southern was going to do one more dribble handoff before drawing up a final play when All-Conference forward Marques Oliver sprinted away from his man in the paint and forced a double-team on the ball handler.

Arms flew and swiped wildly as coaches screamed from the sidelines. The ball finally reappeared, as the trapped Spartan player dribbled onto the line, resulting in an over-and-back call with just 13.6 seconds remaining.

On the ensuing play, Oliver caught the ball in the high post, turned over his left shoulder and drove, drawing a foul as he laid in the game-winner with 1.6 seconds left.

The crowd exploded, and they continued their ear-deafening roar as Spartan coach Art Richmond, still frustrated with the referee who called the back-court violation, was given a technical foul. T.J. Fitzmaurice knocked down both technical free throws to pad the margin of defeat to 69-64.

The two teams had six lead changes and had four ties in the fourth quarter alone after Panther Creek had led 32-22 at halftime.

The Catamounts, still without its suspended players, lost in the next round to Fayetteville Britt.