MOULTRIE — The writers for the newspapers that cover Region 1-AAAAA basketball met last week to select the all-region boys and girls basketball teams, which will appear in Wednesday’s editions.

The writers also picked a region player and coach of the year.

During halftime of Saturday’s region consolation game between Colquitt County and Tift County, the writer for one of those newspapers sought out a colleague and only half-jokingly remarked, “Do you think we should have picked Dorothy Strong for player of the year?”

Strong, the senior point guard, had a solid, if unspectacular season for the Lady Packers heading into the region tournament held last Thursday through Saturday at the Tift County High Arena.

She was much improved this season, cutting down on her turnovers, handling the ball well and sinking a clutch basket here and there.

But she clearly ratcheted up her game several notches in the tournament, hitting in double-figures in all three games and scoring a team-high 43 points.

Against Valdosta on Thursday, in a game the Lady Packers needed to win to qualify for the state tournament, she scored 10 points, including six in the fourth quarter to help discourage the Lady Wildcats from entertaining any thoughts of making a comeback.

The Lady Packers fell short against Lowndes in the semifinals, falling 49-48, but Strong did her part, scoring a season-high 19 points.

And while her teammates were a combined 7-for-22 from the free throw line, Strong was 5-for-9

And in Saturday’s consolation victory over Tift County, a win that snapped a three-game losing streak to the Lady Devils and assured the Lady Packers of the region’s No. 3 seed to the state tournament, Strong quietly led her team in scoring again with 14 points.

For the tournament, she was 11-for 18 from the free throw line and had two 3-pointers in each game.

“She carried us on her back,” Lady Packers assistant coach Amy Chason said of Strong.

Colquitt County head coach Joe Parker said Strong’s tournament play, especially against Lowndes, reflects the way she practices.

“She just never seemed to be able to do it game situations,” Parker said. “But she’s playing with a lot of confidence now.

“And if she continues to play like that, we could make a run.”

The Lady Packers, now 18-9 overall and Region 1-AAAAA’s No. 3 seed to the state tournament, will need to continue to get consistent play from Strong when they travel to meet Morrow High at 4 p.m. Saturday in the first round of the state tournament.

Despite losing to Stephenson 52-36 in the Region 2-AAAAA championship game on Saturday, the Lady Mustangs are 24-3 and were ranked No. 2 in The Associated Press Class AAAAA girls poll and No. 3 in the coaches poll.

The loss to Stephenson might be a bit misleading. Morrow was playing without all-state player Jordan Greenleaf, who was on the bench for disciplinary reasons. Morrow had defeated Stephenson twice earlier in the season.

The Lady Mustangs had advanced to the tournament finals by defeating Tri-Cities 73-15 and Douglass 51-42.

The Colquitt County-Morrow winner will advance to meet the Lovejoy-Glynn Academy winner in a second-round game at 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24, at the Macon Centreplex. The third round also will be played in Macon the next night before the tournament moves to the Gwinnett Arena on March 2-3 for the finals and semifinals.

Also on Saturday, Region 1-AAAAA tournament champion Houston County, a team Colquitt County defeated twice during the regular season, will play host to Douglass, the No. 4 team from Region 1.

Region 1-AAAAA runner-up Lowndes, which lost to Houston 39-29 in tournament championship game, will play host to Redan.

Tift County, which went into the region tournament as the regular-season champion, will be the No. 4 seed and will travel to Stephenson.