MOULTRIE – The momentum of a high school basketball game can swing in the proverbial blink of an eye. Many blinks resulted in seeing a different team on top Friday when the Colquitt County High Packers hosted Worth County for non-region action Friday on William Bryant Court. But with three straight assisted baskets – two from 3-point land – early in the third quarter, Andy Harden’s Colquitt squad put to rest any doubts of a winning night, 51-39 the final.

With much talk about the Packers’ six-games-in-six-days schedule before Christmas, circumstances over the past week led to no basketball action for seven days in a row prior to this latest victory. Colquitt County was supposed to play Dougherty at home on Jan. 3, but the severe storms that hit in and around Albany the night before made traveling impossible.

Guard Cam Singletary led the Packers (13-2) with 18 points. Jarvis Christopher, in the starting lineup, was the only other host player in double figures with 10 points, including one of the big 3-pointers that helped his team pull away in that third period surge.

Tyrese King also connected from long range to get nine total points, while Kaleb Dawson scored six and Quinten Dopson five.

Senior forward DaNas Andrews played off Harden’s bench with limited minutes. He is making a comeback from a sprained ankle suffered back on Dec. 28 in the Vereen Rehabilitation Shootout, and he made significant contributions in areas beyond points.

The Packers had issues getting into the speed of Friday’s game as Worth used two fast-break baskets to get out to a 6-2 lead. Both teams were zoning on defense, and Colquitt also had a time getting a rhythm going from the perimeter.

When Andrews checked in, he ran the floor with the basketball and dished out to Singletary. With 57 seconds remaining in the opening period, Singletary made his team’s first 3-pointer. Worth County answered taking an open offensive rebound chance in the lane and scoring with seven seconds on the clock. That put the game at 11-7 Rams.

The second quarter began with three Colquitt County turnovers – two unforced – in two minutes. But the Packer defense was taking the ball away as well, backup guard Montavious Ponder forcing a travel call against a bigger Ram. The result was not much offense for more than three minutes and Worth still in front 13-11.

Colquitt in fact did not hit from the field until 4:13. King blocked a shot in transition and converted on the other end to tie the game. Singletary later penetrated baseline passing off to Christopher in the lane. Though he missed, Dopson was there for another game-tying put-back.

When the Packers started looking to be in charge, Worth County used both a stick-back and takeaway shot to lead by four, 19-15. So much for the Rams’ advantage, however, as the half ended on a Packer 7-0 run. Key plays were Jy Andrews’ assist to Dawson for the go-ahead score, Dawson’s subsequent steal and a theft by King allowing him to make the game 22-19 for the home team at halftime.

Worth County had the hot hand to start the second half, four straight to lead 23-22. But one more 7-0 Colquitt spurt put an end to the back-and-forth play, and Singletary got that going scoring off one of his two steals in the quarter. Dopson won the battle for a weakside offensive board and found Christopher for 2.

The outside ball reversal, Singletary to J. Andrews, resulted in 3. Christopher also stuck in 3 off Andrews’ pass making it 32-24.

The Rams tried to end the quarter on a mini-comeback, and at 34-30 the Packers turned the ball over with 34 seconds to go. Worth would be called for walking at the 12-second mark, and Singletary’s baseline penetration to Dawson resulted in a buzzer-beating jumper.

D. Andrews’ big help for the second half was on the defensive end creating a jump-ball whistle and possession for his team.

In the fourth, Christopher scored off a steal for 42-32 Packers. One more 10-point bulge came at 1:54 when teammates found Singletary open in a corner for 3. Colquitt was 3-for-6 at the foul line down the stretch, but one miss was rebounded by Dopson.

PACKER girls, HALL DOMINATE

When one player can outscore an entire opposing team … when you don’t stop the basketball at the top of the key …

Diamond Hall had 24 points, Worth County’s girls as a whole scored 19, and the Lady Packers won running away Friday 56-19 in non-region play at home.

For Hall, it was a double-double night as she grabbed 13 rebounds to go with two assists and three steals. Za’Nautica Downs had a 13-point night with four steals and four rebounds.

Forward Kiarra Lovett grabbed nine rebounds, and guard Akia Sutton had three steals.

Like the Packer boys, Rondesha Williams and the girls squad went seven days between games, and it may have shown most in the outset when Worth County scored the game’s first six points (3-pointer banked in at 6:25). Colquitt’s first basket Friday was off Downs’ steal.

One advantage the Sylvester visitors may have had was size inside with center Deanna Williams, but she received her second foul with more than five minutes still to play in the quarter and sat the rest of the half. Colquitt’s first lead, 8-6, came when Hall found no resistance taking the ball down the lane.

Hall penetrated two more times with ease to end the quarter at 16-8. To start the second, Downs stole the ball, saved it from out of bounds, and Hall took it for 2 more. With Downs’ ensuing stick-back, Colquitt led 20-8.

Coach Williams had praise for the defensive work of Tim’mya Sanders off the bench. She had four rebounds and a basket assisted by Downs (25-10). Worth’s first field goal of the second came at the 48-second mark, but Hall capped off a 17-point half from the offensive boards. At the half, it was 29-13.

Worth stayed at 13 the entire third period. In addition to her own points, Hall assisted shots made by Downs and Sutton in the quarter.

Tionna Hunt, playing a lot of point forward, stuck a long 2 and finished the game with four rebounds. Abiyah Spencer got her basket on a third-chance shot. It was 50-13 going into the shortened fourth quarter.

At 12-3, the Lady Packers will join the boys team on Tuesday for more non-region play at Lee County High.