MOULTRIE — The Colquitt County boys basketball program got a coach steeped in the tradition of Dougherty County basketball.

Tonight, the Packers will travel to Dougherty High to get a taste of what that style of basketball feels like while their new coach celebrates a homecoming of sorts.

The Colquitt County boys will pack up their 2-1 record and travel to Albany tonight for a non-Region 1-AAAAA game against Dougherty High.

The Region 1-AAA Trojans have played just one game — a one-point loss to Albany High — while waiting for players who were members of the state runner-up football team to return to uniform.

With the Trojans at full-strength, Colquitt County first-year coach Kirven Davis expects his Packers to have their hands full.

“They will be our toughest competition yet,” said Davis, who has led his team to victories over Bainbridge and Worth County after opening with a loss to Thomasville.

“Their football guys are back now and will bring a little of their swagger with them. The timing is good for us. We need an intense game like that. We need to play in that environment to see where we are.”

The Packers are coming off a 62-50 victory over Worth County last Saturday in Sylvester.

Colquitt started Orion Ponder, Jeremy DeBruce, Antwan Tuff, Andrew Wallace and James Trimble in that game.

DeBruce leads the Packers, averaging 13.7 points in three games.

Trimble, who scored 18 last Friday against Bainbridge and 12 against Worth County, is averaging 11.7.

After scoring eight points in each of the first two games, Tuff also had 12 against the Rams and is averaging 9.3 points.

The Packers have been getting some quality minutes off the bench from Channing Hudson, Amar Parikh, Rysawn Melvin, Dannie Hunt, Kamari Peterson and Ronald Wilson.

Davis and Colquitt County High football defensive coordinator Bill Ragans have created a color-coded chart that will be completed after each game to evaluate each player and Davis is eager to see how it works.

“Players can see on paper how they are doing,” Davis said. “You have to set goals.’

Tonight’s game will have a little extra meaning for Davis, who came to Moultrie this year after five seasons as an assistant at Albany’s Westover High.

Davis also played his high school basketball at Dougherty under Charlie Givens, and his brother Marquis currently coaches at Dougherty.

“There’ll be a pretty good buzz around the city,” Davis said.

The Colquitt County girls will be eager to get over a disappointing 50-47 loss to Worth County last Saturday.

The Lady Packers, 4-2, had defeated the Lady Rams 70-34 in their season-opener.

“We’ve got to play two halves,” Lady Packers coach Joe Parker said. “And we’ve got to get back to being aggressive on offense. We need to push it offensively.

“We got away from attacking.”

The Lady Packers will start Dorothy Strong, Nikki Hudson, Ashley Stafford, Tiffany Troupe and Jessica Lemus.

Parker said the Lady Packers will play in a tournament at Westside-Macon on Dec. 20-22, opening with Spalding High of Griffin.