MOULTRIE — As the celebratory crowd thinned out at the Colquitt County High gymnasium on Friday, Andy Harden noted that the Packers’ Jakari Byrd had hit just one of his first 14 free throws this season.
“But he’s been staying after practice, shooting 100 free throws every day,” the Colquitt County boys basketball coach said.
“Tonight, that hard work paid off.”
This is how it paid off.
With 1:42 left in the game and the Packers trailing 46-45,
Byrd stepped to the foul line and confidently sank a pair of free throws to give the Packers a 47-46 lead.
But 28 seconds later, a basket by Jaden Holmes gave the lead right back to the Patriots.
Then, with 14.9 seconds left and the Packers still trailing by a point, Byrd was fouled again and awarded two shots.
When the first one tied the game, the Black Out Night crowd, one of the largest in recent memory, was on its feet and loud.
It was even louder when the second slipped through, touching nothing but twine.
And when the Patriots missed a desperation shot at the buzzer, the Packers had beaten back the Patriots and taken a 49-48 victory, their sixth straight to start the season.
The victory gave Colquitt County a sweep of the visitors from Albany and left the Lady Packers and Packers with a combined record of 12-0.
And while there is still plenty of basketball to be played in the season, the two teams could not be faulted for setting their sights on the accomplishments the 2016-2017 teams, which went a combined 45-12.
Friday’s win was the second one-point victory for the Colquitt County boys, who edged Rickards High of Tallahassee 45-44 in the Charles Cooper Invitational at Lowndes on Nov. 26.
They have been playing confidently since, but trailed the Patriots 38-37 heading into the final eight minutes on Friday.
And in what would be the first of three such instances in the final quarter, Byrd gave the Packers a one-point lead with a basket with 6:21 remaining.
After Westover regained the lead, Cason Harden connected on the last of his four 3-pointers to put the Packers up 42-40 with 5:55 left.
After the Patriots cut the Colquitt County advantage to one moments later, Byrd sank the first of his five fourth-quarter free throws to put the Packers back up by two at 43-41.
But after Ty Johnson grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back through to give Westover a 46-45 lead with 1:56 left, it was all about Byrd in the final 102 seconds.
And while Byrd stood tall, Harden was pleased with his team’s gritty overall play down the stretch.
“We are always going to play as hard as we possibly can,” he said. “We might not be as talented as some of the teams we play, but we are going to make up for that by playing hard and playing for each other.”
Harden also said he was pleased with how his team executed some recently installed defenses late in the game.
Despite missing four free throws, including two by Byrd, the Packers led 13-12 after the first quarter and 26-22 at the half.
But Mykell Hines scored six of his 10 points in the third quarter as the Patriots outscored the Packers 16-11 to take the one-point lead into the final eight minutes.
Byrd’s 17 points led the Packers offense.
Harden had 12 and is averaging 18 points in the Packers six games.
Marcus Moore and Kanilyn Jones each had 10.
The Packers will try to extend their streak to seven games when they travel to Roanoke, Ala., on Saturday to meet Pike Road (Ala.) at 6:30 p.m. in the Georgia/Alabama Shootout.
The Colquitt County boys, who will not be back on the William Bryant Court again until Jan. 11 when they play host to Bainbridge, will travel to Dougherty on Tuesday.