The 2009 season got off to a dramatic start for the Lenoir City Panthers Tuesday night, as they fell at home 67-64 to Cocke County.
With seconds remaining and the Panthers down a point, guard Dylan Moore drove to the basket and attempted a game-winning layup.  His shot missed, but forward Tyler Hood was there to grab the miss and lay it back in to, apparently, win the game for Lenoir City.

That wasn't the case, however, as the home crowd's celebration was cut short by a controversial charging call against the star senior.

The foul call wiped the points off the board and gave two free throws to Cocke County's Marcus Stewart.  He hit both and Jared Hilton's desperation three at the buzzer fell wide right.
"Players make plays and I thought it was a good play," Lenoir City Head Coach Kevin Windle said of Hood's nullified putback.

The opening game of the 2009-10 season got off to a slow start as the Panthers scored just four points in the first four minutes of the game.  They finished the first quarter with a 13-10 lead.
The offense began to get going a bit in the second quarter as Cocke County's Kurt Brooks opened it with a three and then Lenoir City's Dylan Powers hit one of his own on the other end.

Brooks hit another three after an exchange of possessions to tie the game at 16 and the teams remained in virtual deadlock for much of the remainder of the half.
The Panthers eventually took a 34-33 lead to the break.

Things started going Lenoir City's way to open the third as a Powers three got the hosts off to a 13-4 run in the third.  The lead didn't last, though, as Cocke County answered the run with 10 straight points to trail 49-47 after three.

The Roosters grabbed a lead to start the fourth quarter, but consecutive threes by Hilton and Hood gave Lenoir City a 57-55 advantage.

That's when Cocke County took control.  Brooks drained a trey from the top of the key to put his team ahead by one and start a 9-0 run.
With 3:53 left in the game, Windle took a timeout with his team trailing 64-57.

After the timeout, the Panthers fought back with a pair of free throws by Hood and a trey by Powers cutting the deficit to two at 64-62.

After an exchange of possessions, Stewart hit one of two free throws to put his team up three, but Hood answered back with a strong layup.  He missed the accompanying free throw, however, to keep his team down one with 1:03 left.

The Panther pressure forced Cocke County's Heath Ford to lose the ball out of bounds, setting up the final seconds of drama.
"Cocke County's a good team.  They did what they needed to win," Windle said.  "We let one slip away."

About opening the season with a loss, Windle responded, "Adversity brings out character and this team has a lot of character."
Hood led the Panthers with 25 points and Powers followed with 16.
Stewart paced his team with 23 points and Brooks added 19.

The Panthers (0-1) will take the week off and return to action Tuesday at Sequoyah.  Game time is set for 6 p.m.