Jy Andrews of Colquitt County High basketball goes for a lay-up inside on Kennesaw Mountain Friday in Moultrie.

MOULTRIE – State tournament victory, check. Berth in the Sweet 16, check. Twenty-two victories, check.

The Colquitt County High’s  boys basketball team scratched a few more goals off its preseason list when it survived a lackluster second quarter to defeat Kennesaw Mountain 64-53 on Friday in its GHSA 7A tournament opener in front of a large and appreciative home crowd at William Bryant Court.

The state tournament appearance was just the sixth by a Colquitt County boys team since consolidation in 1978-1979 and was the first in which they didn’t have to board a bus in order to play.

And the state tournament victory was the first for a Packers boys basketball team since 1955.

“We’ve won a home playoff game and we’re going to the Sweet 16,” Packers coach Andy Harden said. “I couldn’t be prouder of these kids.

“You can’t win it unless you’re in it. And we’re still playing ball.”

The victory is expected to send the Region 1 runner-up Packers on the road to play a second-round game against 22-5 Norcross, the Region 7 champion. The Blue Devils, ranked No. 5 in one state poll, met 5-23 West Forsyth in a first-round game Saturday evening.

Harden knows what his team will be up against in Norcross.

“You’ve heard of a two-headed monster?” Harden asked. “They are a six-headed monster.”

But he wasn’t looking ahead in the moments following the victory over Kennesaw Mountain on Friday as he accepted handshakes and hugs from Packer fans who understand and appreciate the historic 2016-2017 team.

The Packers won a combined 20 games over the three previous seasons, but reached that mark with a victory over Camden County in the first round of the region tournament. They added to it with a win over Lowndes that sent them to the tournament championship game.

Unable to get by Tift County in the finals, they still took advantage of the home tournament game to take down Kennesaw Mountain and raise their record to 22-6.

Colquitt started strong against the Mustangs, the No. 3 team from Region 3, which brought a 10-17 record into the game.

The Packers led 20-12 after the first quarter. There was hot shooting all around, two 3-pointers by Cam Singletary and one more from DaNas Andrews. And the Packer becoming synonymous with the term ‘hot-hand off the bench,’ Nizarre Thompson, sunk 3 from two steps past the arc. Singletary and Quinten Dopson scored on second-chance shots.

The Packers were outscored 19-9 in the second and trailed by two at the half, 31-29.

“Our bigs got into foul trouble and we gave up too much penetration,” Harden said. “We just didn’t stop the ball.”

There was no action in this quarter until Jarvis Christopher took advantage of clumsy Mustang play with a steal, coupled with a ball-saving play to Tyrese King. Christopher later dove for a loose ball and found Singletary up court. He scored the final Packer field goal in the half.

The foul trouble was due in part to three straight blocks called on the Colquitt defense. Kennesaw Mountain sank two 3-pointers that tied the game 27-27. After a takeaway with 57.5 seconds left, the Mustangs worked for the go-ahead score.

At the break, “We had a prayer meeting,” Harden said. “We challenged our kids.”

The result was obvious quickly. The Packers scored the first 12 points of the third quarter and were up by 12 heading into the fourth. Andrews was especially aggressive scoring six points with one assist from Dopson. King also scored four with Jy Andrews earning an assist.

Kaleb Dawson, off the bench, put in two offensive rebounds in a row for 49-34 Packers.

When it was 53-41 as the fourth period began, Colquitt went into another scoring funk. The Mustangs pulled to within six (57-51) on a layup by Gabe Armstead with 1:39 left in the game, but Dopson got a bucket and King, Christopher and Singletary combined for five free throws in the final 1:30 to put the game away.

Singletary had 13 points in the first half and added six from the free throw line in the second to lead the Packers with 19 points. DaNas Andrews had 15.

King added nine. Dopson had eight.

(Sports editor Matthew Brown contributed to this report.)