Thomasville High School’s Ryan Anderson tries the dunk against Livingston in the season opener last Friday night. The Tigers fell to the defending state champs 69-67 on a last-second shot from the Cougars.

THOMASVILLE - One of the songs that put Prince on the map was a ditty from the early 1980s called "Controversy."

The folks at the Thomasville High School gym could have been playing the song wide open following a 69-67 loss to Livingston High School Friday night.

The Tigers, who failed to make the playoffs last season, came out with fire in their 2003 season opener, taking Livingston, which won the Class 4A state title last year, to the mat.

Thomasville jumped out to a 12-9 lead, then spanked the Cougars from Sumter County 17-14 in the second to take a 29-23 lead into the locker room at the half.

In the first half, the Tigers sank five, three-point shots and Jarmin Rothchild racked up 20 points.

Coach Travis Carswell’s high-pressure defense kept Livingston bundled up in knots the first half as the Tigers generated numerous turnovers against the defending state title holders.

In the third, things continued on the same pace as Thomasville outgunned LHS 20-17 to go up 49-40 heading into the fourth period.

That’s when Livingston exploded. The Cougars managed to take a 60-57 lead with three minutes left and that led to a see-saw battle down the stretch.

With 23.3 seconds showing on the clock, Rothchild sank a three-point shot to pull the Tigers within three points at 67-64.

The controversy began on the ensuing play. The Tigers managed to get a turnover and moved the ball upcourt to Rothchild, who hit a three-pointer to tie the game up with what looked like less than 10 seconds on the clock.

The refs halted play in the game then converged on the score table. One of the refs held up just two fingers, leading many in the crowd to think the three-point shot would be reversed.

After a lengthy confab, the three-point shot was allowed to stand but the clock was set back to 13.4 seconds - an eternity in basketball.

LHS tried in-bounding the basketball but the Tiger press was still intact and the ball was batted back.

On its way out, many on the Thomasville side believed the ball struck a Livingston player on the knee before going out of bounds. However, the refs gave the ball to the Cougars, who inbounded the ball at half-court, completed a long pass inside the paint then sank a two-point shot at the buzzer to take the 69-67 win.

In the game, Jarmin Rothchild had 38 points to pace the Tiger effort. Jabbar Grayson had 10 points while Brian Shamburger had nine. Ryan Anderson had seven points while Jeremy Pugh had four.

The Tigers (0-1) were set to begin area play Tuesday night in Butler against the Tigers of Choctaw County, last year’s area champions.

They will return home Friday for a tilt with the Coffeeville Panthers before venturing up to Dixons Mills Saturday for a game against Marengo High.

On Tuesday, Dec. 16, the Tigers continue in area play against the Jackson Aggies.

Basketball action begins at 5:00 with the B-Team tip-off in each contest.