CARY — With two starters and one key reserve out serving suspension for violation of team rules, No. 1-seeded Panther Creek needed some heroic performances from other players if they wanted to make it past Southern Durham and into the NCHSAA 4-A regionals next week.

And the Catamounts got the heroics they needed from seniors Marques Oliver and Mike Hood, as they held off the Spartans 68-64 in the third round of the state playoffs.

With the score tied 64-64 and Southern winding down the clock, the 6-foot-6 Oliver initiated the half-court trap that forced 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 PC crowd exploded, and as they continued their ear-deafening roar, 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.

Hood, ordinarily the team's sixth-man, was thrust into the starting lineup due to the suspensions of Tri-Eight Player of the Year Earnest Ross and second team All-Conference point guard Brandon Oliver. Reserve forward Karim Sako had also been suspended from the team.

Hood turned in a Ross-like performance, leading all scorers with 29 points on 11-of-15 shooting, including 4-for-6 from 3-point range.

"It was like Southern Durham would go on a run and then Mike Hood would go on a run," PC coach L.J. Hepp said.

Richmond, whose team needed to win the PAC-Six Tournament just to get into the state playoffs, was upset with calls that went against Southern in the fourth.

In addition to the backcourt call, PC's Tyler Gattis was allowed to re-shoot the second of his two missed free throws after a lane violation on the second shot.

Gattis sank his final try from the charity stripe and tied the game at 64-64 with 51.8 seconds left.

"A couple of bad calls on the floor changed the ball game. You should never be able to control the ball game that way," Richmond said, particularly upset with the backcourt call.

"My man is dribbling down and all of a sudden you see the ball get popped out — that's not my player popping the ball out, that's the defender knocking the ball out. That's all I'll say about the officials."

Southern's Cinderella run through the playoffs came to an end a game after first taking down Broughton in the first round, and then needing a last-second 3-pointer from Marcus Wells to upset Garner 81-78.

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.

Southern's Geoff Hunter and Wells each had a team-high 17 points.

After the game, Hepp would not comment on why the three players were suspended or whether they will be available on Tuesday for the regional game in Greenville.

PC's opponent will be determined this weekend, after all sectional winners are re-seeded.