Lady Packers defeat Thomas County Central 44-36

Published 9:29 pm Monday, December 28, 2020

MOULTRIE – The Colquitt County girls basketball team held Thomas County Central without a point in the third quarter and defeated the Lady Jackets 44-36 on Monday on the William Bryant Court in the first day of the Vereen Rehabilitation Shoot-out.

The Lady Packers trailed by four at the half, but cruised the rest of the way, leading by 12 twice in the fourth quarter.

But despite the win that raised the Colquitt girls’ record to 5-3, coach Rondesha Williams was not pleased with her team’s performance.

“We struggled and we shouldn’t struggle against a team like that,” Williams said. “I told them that a season is like climbing a ladder, but we’re not making strides. We have got to play collectively and we are not doing that.”

The Lady Packers are scheduled to meet Coffee at 7 p.m. on Tuesday and will play another game on Wednesday in the long-running event that has gone through several recent schedule changes because of quarantines.

Colquitt’s girls were planning to play Brunswick on Monday, but the Lady Pirates coach called Sunday and pulled out of the event because of a quarantine.

Williams had to scramble to find an opponent and Thomas County Central was able to fill the vacancy.

And the Lady Jackets erased a four-point deficit after the end of the first quarter to out-score the Lady Packers 15-7 in the second quarter.

But after getting a basket with 2:20 left in the first half, Central did not score again until nearly a minute was gone in the fourth quarter.

Carliss Johnson, the Lady Packers leading scorer, managed just two points in the first half, but a basket and a 3-pointer in the first 70 seconds of third quarter gave her team a jump-start.

Sissy Rowland had a pair of fourth-quarter 3-pointers that further led to the victory.

Johnson led Colquitt with 11 points. Camille Singletary, who had eight in the first half, finished with 10.

Gracie Belle Paulk had seven; Keyona Harper and Rowland each had six; and Heaven Robinson had four.

Following the shoot-out, the Lady Packers will be off until Friday, Jan. 8, when they will open Region 1-7A play with a home game against Camden County.

The Colquitt County boys played Lafayette (Ala.) in Monday’s late game.