MOULTRIE — The Colquitt County boys basketball team lost all eight of its Region 1-7A regular-season games this season, including 61-51 and 48-46 decisions to Richmond Hill.

But on Saturday, after defeating Brooks County 70-50 in Moultrie the night before, the Packers knocked Richmond Hill out of the postseason with a 42-37 tournament-play-in victory on the Wildcats home court.

The Packers now advance to meet top-seeded Camden County at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Kingsland in one of the two region tournament semifinal games.

No. 2-seed Valdosta will play No. 3 Lowndes in the other semifinal.

But Saturday’s victory over Richmond Hill ensures the Packers a berth in the state tournament that will begin on Feb. 20-21.

Colquitt will have to pull off another big upset to get by Camden, which went 19-6 overall and 7-1 in the region this season.

The Wildcats defeated the Packers 60-42 at home and 69-34 in Moultrie in the regular season.

An upset of Camden would send the Packers to the region championship game and allow them to play at least one state tournament game at home.

After Saturday’s 200-mile commute from Moultrie, the Packers jumped out to a 6-0 lead, but Richmond Hill led 12-8 after the first quarter.

The Wildcats extended their lead to 14-11 before Colquitt scored six straight points to take a lead it would not surrender.

The Packers led 21-16 at the half and although the Wildcats pulled to within a point at 37-36 late in the final quarter, Colquitt held on.

Cason Harden hit three of four free throws in the closing seconds to seal the victory.

The Wildcats hurt themselves hitting just 5-of-17 free throws and only 2-of-13 3-point shots.

Richmond Hill finishes its season 4-22.

“We don’t have a bunch of scorers, so I knew we’d have to rely on defense and defensively we played real well,” said Packers coach Andy Harden.

“And we knew we’d have to limit their second chances and we rebounded well, too.”

The Wildcats were successful in their efforts to deny Cason Harden the ball. The Packers leading scorer managed only three free throws he hit down the stretch.

“But Cason played well defensively and rebounded well,” Andy Harden said of his son. “Zay Williams hit some mid-range shots for us and Jakari Byrd played a good game.

“We played with a lot of adrenaline. We realized if we lose the game, we’re done.”

Byrd led the Packers with 18 points. Williams added eight.

Zy Alridge had four; Jayshar Kinsey had three; and Quan Kinsey, Markese Wilson and Zach Palmore each had a basket.

Another benefit of the win is that the young Packers — with just Williams and Wilson as their only seniors — will get at least three more games and two more weeks of practice this season.

The Packers have seven sophomores on its roster and eight in the program and four promising eighth-graders are getting practice time with the ninth-graders.

“We really are blessed to get another two weeks,” he said.

“Playing two games in the region tournament and then playing in the state tournament will be so beneficial for our young kids.”

Harden, now in his second stint as Colquitt County’s head coach, is aiming at getting the program back to where it was in the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 seasons when the Packers won 34 games and got the program’s first state playoff victory since 1953.

“That’s when we went to the gym knowing we were going to win,” he said. “It’s been frustrating the last couple of years.

“But I feel like next year, we’ll be coming back.”

The Packers now have won two in a row and raised their record to 6-19.

The 70 points they scored on Friday in the win over Brooks County on the William Bryant Court were the most they have put up in a game this season.

The Packers scored 22 points in the first quarter and 16 in each of the next three.

Byrd started his productive weekend by scoring 24 points against the Trojans.

Harden had 17, including 15 on five 3-pointers.

Quan Kinsey also was in double-figures with 11; Jayshar Kinsey had six; Palmore had five; and Wilson added three.

The Colquitt County girls, the No. 3 seed in the region tournament, will face No. 2 Camden County at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at Lowndes.

The top-seeded Vikettes will meet Richmond Hill at 7 p.m. in the other semifinal.

Richmond Hill eliminated Valdosta with a 48-35 win victory on Saturday.

The girls region championship game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday at Lowndes.

The Lady Packers, 5-3 in region games, are 21-4 overall after its regular season-ending 57-29 home victory over Brooks County on Friday.

The win was the 300th for Lady Packers coach Rondesha Williams, who has led the program since the 2007-2008 season.