Colquittt County's Diamond Hall does a wrap-around assist like the pros of back in the day as the Lady Packers defeat Brookwood High Wednesday in the GHSA 7A second round.

MOULTRIE – How do you slow a charging Bronco? Let the air out of the tires. And, when you have the car all discombobulated, speed right on past it and into the GHSA Class 7A Elite 8 of girls basketball.

Colquitt County High’s Lady Packers, negating any height advantages of the Brookwood High Lady Broncos with defensive  hustle and clutch outside shooting, won Wednesday’s second-round matchup 41-34 on William Bryant Court. Za’Nautica Downs scored 20 points to lead all scorers as Brookwood did not have a player register in double figures. That includes a signee with Texas A&M, forward N’dea Jones, who was held to seven.

Diamond Hall had 10 for the victorious Lady Packers, who as Region 1-7A champions will face 8-7A’s No. 1 Archer High next week in the quarterfinals. In a marked improvement from the first-round victory over North Cobb last weekend, Colquitt went 14-for-20 at the foul line.

Brookwood got eight points each from Kierra Adams and Nkemji Okonkwo.

“They’ve got two D1 prospects and we’re just little ballers down here,” said Lady Packer coach Rondesha Williams. “We’re just babies. But we play with a big heart.”

The Lady Broncos led 12-10 after the first quarter, and in that period the 6-3 Jones scored on the offensive glass for the one and only time. With five points off turnovers, Brookwood had its biggest lead of the game, 5-1, and Colquitt began the game 1-for-4 at the foul line.

But the Lady Packers turned up the defensive intensity, pestering the Gwinnett County visitors with their own takeaways. Downs, a junior, had five straight points of her own – knocking down the 3-ball from pro range – and two steals with points going to Hall in an overall 7-0 run.

The teams went back and forth, Okonkwo pounding the ball inside and Jones converting a three-point play. Downs ran the floor from her defensive board, though that was a stat Brookwood was dominant in for those first eight minutes.

Downs added another steal to her total to start the second quarter and tied the game, but the Lady Packers became completely reliant on the 3-point shot … the extra-long variety at that. As the Lady Broncos went back ahead by two, Downs finally did some dribble penetrating to get to the foul line and knot things back up 14-all.

The Lady Packers never looked back going on a 6-0 run with three steals coming from Hall. Back-up Tionna Hunt even took a pass away intended for Jones inside. As Downs stuck in one more short jumper off the dribble, Colquitt went into halftime up 20-17.

Then it was stalling time. The Lady Packers had the basketball first … and Hall held it near halfcourt at the left corner for more than four minutes. The question was when would either coach call for action. At 3:35 there was some stirring, and Hall just dribbled into the arc, shot and scored to the delight of the home crowd.

“We were up and I needed them to come out of that zone,” said Williams. “And I knew once we held the ball, they couldn’t stop Diamond going to the basket. When she scored, that gave us the momentum.

“I knew going in that they were going to play us with a matchup zone, and they are so wide. I told them we had to dribble, penetrate, make the pass and be able to knock down some shots. They left Abiyah opened twice and she knocked them down.”

There was no waiting on the next Colquitt trip, Abiyah Spencer firing away from 3 to make it 25-19. While Brookwood had no shooting touch from anywhere, and made some unforced turnovers, the Lady Packers were executing with Hall’s Isaiah Thomas (of the Pistons) like dish-off to Kiarra Lovett and Spencer’s inbound 3 from the left corner with three seconds on the quarter clock.

That stretched the advantage to nine, 30-21, with one quarter to play. It took two minutes (no stalling) for anyone to score. Though Colquitt was taking quick shots for 1-and-done trips, the defense was still holding its ground. Lovett, a forward, forced a jump ball whistle with the arrow in her favor.

“We thrive on defense. Defense has got us where we are today,” said Williams.

Downs took the ball to the hoop out of a timeout for 34-27, and when the ball was stolen from her, she rushed down to block the lay-up LeBron James style. Her basket was the only field goal of the fourth, the Lady Packers finishing the game with seven foul shots made.